Buddy Valastro Says His Kids Want to Take Over the Family Business: 'And I Want Them to'

Buddy Valastro's kids are following in his footsteps.

The Cake Boss star, 45, who started working at his family-run Carlo's Bakery when he was 11, tells PEOPLE that his kids — Sofia, 19, Buddy Jr., 17, Marco, 15 and Carlo, 11 — want to forge a similar path to their dad.

"They all really want to come into the family business. And I want them to. I really am excited to see the next generation take over," says the New Jersey native, who partnered up with Kinetic Sand to recreate his iconic rainbow cake in the medium for a new video released on Thursday. "But I never want to force them. I want them to do it because they love it."

Valastro says his kids are coming to an age when they can "actually have these conversations,", especially Sofia, who attends the University of Delaware. When Valastro recently asked her what she wants to do after college, she said, "I want to work with you. I want to be involved in the family businesses," he recalls.

Naturally, Sofia chose to study business and hospitality to seamlessly transition back to the Valastro business empire post-graduation.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Buddy vs. Duff star relied on his four children even more than before.

"All through COVID they worked. They helped because they weren't really going to school, and nobody really wanted to work," he says. "So it was really just me and my family keeping the online orders going. It was pretty intense."

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Each of his kids have a different strength to bring to the family business. "Buddy's the most determined — will never give up. And Marco's definitely got the gift of gab. He's the mayor," he says of his sons.

When it comes to creativity, Valastro says Sofia definitely takes the cake in the decorating department.

The budding baker started helping out with decorating cookies during Valentine's Day when she was on a college break. "She had to make 10,000 cookies. So it's like when you are there with the team and you make 10,000, that's how you get good," he says.

She also helped develop their spring cookie designs with her dad, which Valastro says have been "selling really well" because of their vibrant colors.

Valastro recently had his own challenge in the kitchen. He recreated his most colorful cake — the bakery's six-layer rainbow cake. The catch? He made it entirely out of Kinetic Sand. "My son Carlo…loves playing with Kinetic Sand. He's very sensory. So am I," he says, adding that the collaboration with the kids' play company was a natural fit.

It took Valastro and his team three attempts, using 500 pounds of sand, to make a five-tier Kinetic Sand cake that didn't topple over. "It's definitely a little bit more difficult than making a regular cake just because it's a totally different medium," Valastro says.

He took things one step further by also challenging himself to make a flower out of sand (instead of the usual fondant).

His trick to tackle the difficult task was kneading the material into petals and then freezing them. The end result, he says, looked like the rose in Beauty and the Beast.

"It went down pretty quick, but it looked great," he laughs.