Newton mother-son pair to present surprise cake stand on ‘Shark Tank’ - The Boston Globe

Massachusetts natives Jordan Long and Elizabeth Charm are hoping for funding for their Popping Cake Stand on "Shark Tank."

A mother-son duo from Newton will appear on the popular TV show “Shark Tank” this week to pitch their unusual creation: a cake stand that lets people hide gifts beneath layers of frosting.

“It’s fun,” Surprise Company cofounder Elizabeth Charm said. “Almost like a jack-in-the-box toy but with cake.”

Charm and her son, Jordan Long, brought their invention to the sharks, five titans of industry looking to invest in entrepreneurs, last month. When the episode airs on Nov. 6, viewers can see whether moneymakers Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, or Kevin O’Leary wants to invest in the pair’s professional dreams.

The idea for Surprise Cake actually came to her “in a dream” several years ago, Charm said. Nights before her daughter’s 12th birthday, Charm thought to hide her present, her first cell phone, right in the cake.

“I called the cake with everyone there,” she said. “And they loved it.”

While the phone was wrapped in plastic inside that birthday cake, the product Charm and Long are selling relies on a cake stand with a capsule that appears to pop out of the cake. The Massachusetts natives have found a manufacturer in China, secured a patent, and generated enough revenue that they felt confident presenting to professionals.

“We’ve done the work, and we watched almost every episode of the show while preparing,” Long, a recent college graduate, said. “We knew exactly what we were going into.”

The pair got tested for COVID-19 before flying to Las Vegas for the taping in September. There, they quarantined in a hotel room for eight days before meeting the sharks. When they arrived on set, the cast sat in socially distanced seats.

“You see them on TV so many times, and then you’re there,” Long said. “At that point, it almost felt like they were holograms.”

The duo said they started the meeting with a lively elevator pitch the producers helped them perfect, and then they answered questions. From start to finish, they chatted with the sharks for 40 minutes.

“It seemed like a minute honestly” said Charm. “It goes by so fast.”

Watch the Newton pair on Shark Tank on Friday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Diti Kohli can be reached at diti.kohli@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ditikohli_.

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