When the Cake Boss Buddy Valastro and his right-hand man and head baker Joe Faugno lock themselves in a kitchen for two days, you know they're going to walk out of there with something good. Recently, that something good was the traditional Italian pastry known in America as a lobster tail (or sfogliatelle, if you're trying to eek that semester abroad in Florence for all it's worth) stuffed with cookies and cream filling and drizzled with glaze and crushed Oreos.
Buddy and his bakers nixed other flavors including lemon, strawberry, chocolate chip and cookie dough before launching the cookies and cream one in the 16 (and counting!) Carlo's Bakery outposts around the world—and we have Buddy's cousin Frankie Amato to thank for it: "He always walks around with lobster tails filled with different creams," says Joe.
Traditional lobster tails come filled with a plain cream, and the flaky pastry shells take three days to make. The process is tedious—there's mixing and rolling, then stretching and rolling, and cutting and filling—which is why we like to leave it to the pros and just enjoy the sweet result.
Next up, the gang's going to try to tackle a savory version, maybe pizza or ham and cheese. But until they lock the kitchen door and throw away the key for another two days, we'll make do with the Oreo. We're tough cookies like that.
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