Deising’s Bakery, a small family-owned bakery located in the Hudson Valley, has recently received new kitchen equipment worth thousands of dollars thanks to a light-hearted feud with John Oliver. The comedian recreated his own version of Red Lobster to make the chain’s famous cheddar biscuits, surpassing another bidder in the process. Eric Deising, the owner of the 59-year-old Deising’s Bakery in Kingston, had expressed interest in acquiring a flat-top oven and a convection oven through a sign he placed on the closed Red Lobster’s premises.
Unfortunately, Oliver beat Deising to the equipment, leaving Deising a bit defeated. However, Oliver responded to the situation during his show, revealing that the donated Red Lobster equipment did not include the items Deising had requested originally. Oliver then proposed a challenge to Deising – if the bakery could make and sell bear-shaped cakes with Oliver’s face on them, he would gift Deising new ovens. Respectfully commenting on the initial cake bears Deising had made, Oliver joked about the bear’s unique appearance.
In response to the challenge, Deising’s Bakery started selling cakes bears with Oliver’s face on them, printed on edible paper. The cakes quickly became a hit, with approximately 100 being sold every hour at $8 apiece. Deising’s Bakery decided to donate all the proceeds from the cake bears to a local food pantry called People’s Place. Despite requests for shipping the cakes globally, they are only available in-store until Sunday.
The new kitchen equipment, estimated to be worth thousands of dollars, is set to be delivered to Deising’s Bakery on Thursday. The bakery plans to continue its charitable efforts while enjoying success with the popular cake bears.