HBO host John Oliver has made good on his promise to provide kitchen equipment to Kingston's Daisings Bakery in response to Oliver's now-famous “Cake Bear Challenge.”
As promised, a new flat grill and convection oven were delivered to Daithings on Thursday morning, as bakery staff created an elaborate cake bear wearing the “Last Week Tonight” host's edible face.
During the June 2nd episode of Red Lobster, Oliver announced that he had won an online auction for the entire contents of a recently closed restaurant in the town of Ulster.
Oliver's staff recreated the restaurant in the studio and handed out the famous Red Lobster biscuits.
Deising's co-owner, Eric Deising, also posted a note on the door of his closed restaurant, asking for a flat grill and convection oven.
After News 12 broke the story June 5 that Oliver had beaten out the Deising family to the equipment, Oliver reported in another segment last Sunday that he would provide Deising with a new grill and oven, but on one condition: that the bakery start selling John Oliver's Cake Bears.
“I don't like Cake Bear,” he told the studio audience after showcasing some of the Daishing items that had been posted on the Internet. [expletive] I love Cake Bear!”
The owners and staff have been working 12-hour days to keep up with demand for the cake bears, and have sold around 1,400 John Oliver cake bears so far.
“It's something that people talk about every day,” said Daishing baker Emma Mejia, “No one talks about Father's Day coming up. Everyone's all about John Oliver, and everyone forgets about dad.”
“Nobody is complaining. Everybody is having fun,” Eric Deising said. [much] Do the same thing over and over again and make it as fun as possible.”
Daising's is also sharing some of the spotlight and good fortune: The restaurant is donating all profits from John Oliver's Cake Bears to People's Place Food Pantry and Resource Centre in midtown Kingston.
Eric Deising said the donation could eventually amount to more than $10,000.
“It's really a fun way to support an organization that provided 1.5 million meals to Ulster County residents last year,” People's Place Executive Director Christine Hein told News 12 on Thursday.
“This is a win for everybody and a win for John Oliver,” Eric Dysing said, “because now he's got a lot of new fans here in Ulster County.”
The owners said they may continue to sell John Oliver's Cake Bear into next week because this Sunday night's episode of “Last Week Tonight” may add a new twist to the story, which could create even more demand for the Cake Bear, sources told News 12.
