Apple's rave reviews of Strawberry's desserts encourage the Queen of Berryvania to order the latest one for her royal ball, the Very Berry Spice Royale cake. However, a stuffed up nose causes Strawberry to mess up the recipe and Apple doesn't have the heart to tell her how it really tastes, so Apple must stop the postal bees from delivering the cake.
Episode Review
At the café, Strawberry offers Apple, Blueberry and the twins her new cake with sparklers she calls "Olallieberry Rhubarb Surprise". Apple takes a picture of the cake with her cellphone. The girls eat and compliment Strawberry for both the wonderful look and taste of the cake, except Sour, who grimaces. She explains that is because she has to agree with her sister, and they all laugh. Apple says that Strawberry's amazing cooking reputation should be advertised all over the Berry Bitty World. Blueberry and Sweet agree. Strawberry says modestly that it is enough for her that they like her desserts.
Next morning, Strawberry is picking fruit at the market, but she is interrupted nonstop by phone messages from all over the world from people who want to order her famous "Olallieberry Rhubarb Surprise". How did it get to be famous? Apple explains that she uploaded an image of the cake to the new food review section on her "Berry Best Bits" website, called "Yummy-Yums", and the honor of her first food review went to Strawberry! Strawberry reads the review, and thanks Apple warmly. Apple claims every word is true, like she says "I call'em like I taste'em!". Strawberry regrets that she has to disappoint the readers who are trying to place orders, because the cake is available only at her café. Apple comes up with the idea of a mail-order business. Strawberry is initially hesitant, but Apple's enthusiasm catches her too.
Soon the business, called "Berry Bitty Cookery company, desserts straight to your door" is in motion: Strawberry and the twins bake the desserts; Apple tastes them, uploads the images to her webpage, writes reviews and takes care of the orders; the other Berry girls help with the packing; the postal bees pick and deliver the packages. Strawberry and Sweet, even Sour (who is normally not so thrilled about cooking sweet dishes), are excited of their thriving business.
Sweet reads aloud Apple's review about Strawberry's latest creation "Mucho Mocha Mango Mousse", and compliments her for making Strawberry famous. Apple says modestly that Strawberry's recipes are making her famous, while she is just the messenger, sharing the good news with the world.
Just as Apple tastes another delicious dessert called "Great Grape Grandy" and writes a hearty review, Strawberry comes, sneezing loudly. Apple asks her if she caught a cold, and Strawberry answers it is an allergy she gets every year when the Purple Puffpetals are at bloom, temporarily disabling her sense of smell. Apple compliments Strawberry for her "Great Grape Grandy" and hands her the latest orders. Strawberry gives Apple a piece of "Very Berry Spice Royale" cake she baked
Apple learns not to judge a cake by its icing.
last night for her taste test - a new recipe. Strawberry walks away to help the twins. The cake frosting looks delicious, but when Apple smells it... something is wrong. She smells it twice more and tastes it, and... something is DEFINITELY wrong! Her head spins, her eyes roll, she burps loudly and nearly faints. From the other side of the room, Strawberry asks Apple how she likes the cake. Rather than tell Strawberry the truth, Apple answers evasively "I... never had anything like it. It's totally and completely... new. Uhm... different even". Strawberry is glad to hear that and asks Apple to write a review of the cake. Now Apple has a problem: how to write a review without lying to the customers, and at the same time without offending Strawberry?
Apple has an idea: she goes to the book store to seek Blueberry's advice. She tells Blueberry she has a problem, but explains it in a very confused manner: how to say things in other words? Blueberry gives her a thesaurus that contains synonyms of words and their opposites, and a dictionary that tells the meaning of the words. Apple thanks Blueberry and leaves. Using the thesaurus and dictionary, Apple writes a very long review about the "Very Berry Spice Royale". The review is accurate about the color of the cake and its creamy texture, but as for the taste - that part is made of ambiguous and equivocal phrases like "It is out of the ordinary, unexpected and may I say - unique cake eating experience".
The twins (who have not tasted the cake) read the review and are quite amused: Sweet says it sounds Apple loves the cake, while Sour comments it sounds like Apple needs a bigger thesaurus before she runs out of words. Strawberry enters. She has not recovered yet, but is getting better. The twins tell her about Apple's review. Just then, Strawberry gets a phone call from none other than the Queen of Berryvania! She saw Apple's review about the "Very Berry Spice Royale", and wants to order one for her inaugural ball, big enough to feed 100 people. Strawberry writes down the order, then she and the twins hop excitedly. They get to work. Once the cake is complete, they pack it, and the postal bees take it.
Apple goes to Blueberry's book store to return the books. The postal bees fly overhead, straining to carry the extra-heavy package. Blueberry is outside, watering her flowers. Apple thanks her for solving the problem... unaware that there is much bigger problem she has to deal with. They watch the postal bees carrying the huge package. Blueberry tells Apple the good (?) news: the Queen of Berryvania ordered a sixteen-layer cake, based on Apple's review. Apple rejoices, but then she remembers something... worried, she asks Blueberry what kind of cake the queen ordered, and the answer shocks her. She quickly hands Blueberry the books and runs away, screaming, much to Blueberry's confusion. Apple whistles to a bird and mounts it, hoping she can catch up with the postal bees before the cake is delivered, yelling "Hey! Come back! Where are you guys? Don't deliver that cake!".
Meanwhile, Strawberry (who has fully recovered by now), receives a phone call from the queen. She gasps to hear what the queen says, and apologizes. She promises to take care of everything. The twins sense that something is wrong. Strawberry grabs a pastry bag and her helmet and hurriedly goes out, telling the twins it is something about the queen's cake without specifying. She whistles to a bird and mounts it, chasing the bees.
Apple is still chasing the bees "Hey! Where are you guys?". When the bees fly above a daisy field, the package brushes against the flowers and releases clouds of pollen. That makes the thin bee sneeze, and as a result they spin and crash to the ground. Apple spots them by the pollen cloud and approaches.
The bees open the package and see that the cake is cracked vertically. While they consider what to do, Apple lands nearby, but does not approach them. She watches as they try to put the cake together. They stick a flower stem inside the cake horizontally to hold its parts together. Their fingers get smeared with the frosting. They quickly re-pack the cake. One of them licks the frosting off his fingers, and reacts the same way Apple did earlier. Apple gasps and sighs to see that, but still does not approach the bees. The other bee says they need to deliver it.
As the bees are about to take off, Strawberry arrives and exclaims "Stop! I've got to fix that cake!". Apple gasps, incorrectly assuming that Strawberry discovered the defect in the cake. The bees are nervous, knowing the cake is ruined, mumbling it is fine. Strawberry explains it is not, the queen has last-minute request to add a frosty inscription. The bees sigh. Apple smiles and sighs in relief, muttering "She doesn't know".
The bees unpack the cake. Strawberry notices the flower stem stuck inside the cake, pulls it out, and the cake breaks to several pieces. Strawberry is shocked "What's this?!". Embarrassed, the bees confess that they crashed and the cake broke. They tried to fix it, but should have told Strawberry the truth.
Hearing that, Apple finally comes out of her hiding and apologizes for not telling the truth about the cake, too. Strawberry does not understand what's wrong about the cake, and is
The truth is...
about to taste it, but Apple yells "No! Don't do it!". The second bee asks "What's wrong with it?". He licks the frosting from his fingers, and reacts the same way Apple and his companion did. Strawberry smells the cake and realizes what is wrong: she put persimmon pepper instead of persimmon powder. They are next to each other on the spice rack, and since her nose was stuffed up, she could not smell the difference.
Strawberry calls Sweet and tells her they are going to need another cake, and she'll be right back. Apple apologizes, claiming she was trying to protect Strawberry's reputation. Strawberry accepts her apology and tells her not to be afraid to tell the truth about her cooking, good or bad, just "call'em like you taste'em".
At the café, Apple reads aloud the news report from the inaugural ball: the queen says it was the event of the year, and the highlight of the evening was the dessert from Berry Bitty City, Strawberry's "Very Berry Spice Royale" cake - the most delicious the queen has ever tasted! The girls are delighted to hear that. Just then, they receive another order for the cake. Strawberry announces it can wait, right now they are on a cake break, and they all laugh.
Quotes
(Strawberry offers the "Olallieberry Rhubarb Surprise" cake to Apple, Blueberry and the twins)
Strawberry: Well, go ahead. Dig in. Let me know what you think.
Apple: Mmm... oh, it's great!
Blueberry: Mmm... Strawberry, it's wonderful!
Sweet: Mmm.. your best yet!
Apple: Your reputation as the best dessert chef in the Berry Bitty World has just gone up another notch!
Strawberry: (chuckles) Thanks, Apple.
Sweet: This beats any dessert that my sister and I have ever created in our lives! (turns to Sour) Well, what do you think?
(Sour takes another bite from the cake. She leans backwards, smiling, but then she grimaces, shakes her head, sighs and sticks her tongue out in a very exaggerated manner)
Strawberry: (worried) You don't like it?
Sour: No... it's just the agony of agreeing with my sister.
(the girls burst out laughing)
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Apple: This dessert shouldn't just be for us. Your reputation should be known around the Berry Bitty World.
Blueberry: I second what Apple said!
Sweet: And I third it!
Strawberry: Oh, thank you. But just knowing you guys like my desserts, well, that makes me happy.
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Apple: I call'em like I taste'em!
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Sweet (reading Apple's latest review): "Strawberry's latest creation which she calls "Mucho Mocha Mango Mousse" gets five Yummy-Yum stars out of five, and a bonus "Mmm... that's good!" from your humble reviewer. And so until next time when your tummy says "let's eat", this is Apple Dumplin in Berry Bitty City, saying "I call'em like I taste'em"." Oh, Apple, that's just wonderful!
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Apple: Here are your latest orders: three dozens "Olallieberry Rhubarb Surprises"; ten "Gooseberry Geysers", two with extra nuts; seventeen "Strawberry's Fabulous Fig Frappés"; half a dozen "Nana Num-Nums"; and a "Mucho Mocha Mango Mousse".
(another order is coming. Apple takes and reads it)
Apple (giggles): Ah... two "Mucho Mocha Mango Mousse".
Strawberry: Excellent!
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Lessons
Apple learns that a review must include both positive and negative aspects of the object in question; attempting to sugarcoat the negative side does not only defeat the purpose of the review, but may also result very unpleasantly.
The Queen of Berryvania is mentioned for the first time on the show, but does not appear until The Berry Best Biscuit.
Apple acts very foolishly in this episode:
Knowing what an excellent cook Strawberry is, Apple should have figured that she made a mistake with the ingredients due to her stuffed up nose.
Writing the ambiguous review, in attempt to protect Strawberry's reputation, was even more foolish and nearly achieved the opposite: Apple should have predicted that whoever read the review - would be misled by its equivocal phrasing, interpret it positively (like Sweet and the Queen did) and order it. The result could have very unpleasant to both Strawberry's reputation and the business.
Strawberry's mistake with the spices is similar (perhaps inspired by) the mistake Anne Shirley did in the novel "Anne of Green Gables": she used a bottle labeled "Best Vanilla" to flavour a cake she was baking. The bottle did not contain vanilla; Marilla filled it with anodyne liniment, but did not warn Anne, nor did she replace the label. Anne could not tell the difference because a day before she caught a severe cold. The reaction of the guests who tasted Anne's cake was much milder than the way Apple and the postal bees reacted, still it was very embarrassing for Anne.
The ringtone of Strawberry's cellphone is the music of the theme song of the show.
Purple Puffpetal is the second type of flower that Strawberry is allergic to, in addition to Hibiscus (as revealed on "Happy First Frost").
Goofs
Who are you, and what did you do with Sour?!
Sour made it clear on "Berry Double Trouble" that she does not like cooking sweet food. Yet in this episode, she does not show any signs of discontentment when cooking sweet dishes alongside her sister and Strawberry, on the contrary.
Apple chases the postal bees, yelling loud "Don't deliver that cake!", but when she finally catches up with them - she does not approach them, even when they are about to continue the delivery.
Strawberry baked the first "Very Berry Spice Royale" alone. When she baked the second cake of that kind for the queen, repeating the same mistake with the spices, the twins participated in the baking. How could they not detect the unpleasant smell?
