Johnnycake Cobbler's Sensational Sweetening Spritz (or Strawberry and the Swindling Salesman on YouTube) is the 34th episode of the first season of Strawberry Shortcake: Berry In The Big City. It premiered on April 30th, 2022.
Summary[]
Strawberry Shortcake and Raspberry Tart aren't exactly friends, but when a swindling salesman, Johnnycake Cobbler comes to town, they put aside their differences and join forces to take him down.
Plot[]
The episode begins with Strawberry Shortcake pulling a fresh batch of cookies from her Very Berry Oven, when she notices a crowd of berries running past her truck as a voice calls for them to gather around. The voice turns out to be a salesman named Johnnycake Cobbler, who introduces himself by name and claims that helping berries is his game. He tells the crowd he gathered ingredients from Banana Beach to Berryville for his newest product, which excites Strawberry since she's from the latter town. Johnnycake proceeds to show off his Sensational Sweetening Spritz, which can supposedly improve the taste of anything, from pies to cake.
Raspberry Tart calls everyberry in the crowd a bunch of dough heads, clearly not buying whatever Johnnycake is saying. Strawberry dismisses Raspberry's comment, telling her that Johnnycake is great, to which Raspberry rolls her eyes and calls everyberry gullible. Johnnycake tells the crowd that his friend Kiki Keylime said they shouldn't waste time baking as it's the pits, when they could just give it a spritz, all while holding up a photo of Kiki with a cutout of him hastily taped to it. Strawberry and Raspberry immediately take offense to that "quote", Raspberry pointing out that Kiki would never say something like that. Raspberry and Strawberry note that she always says "taking the time to bake is the truest expression of affection", and the two briefly pause at having said the same thing simultaneously.
Strawberry decides to approach in good faith that it's a misunderstanding, and goes to ask Johnnycake a question. Johnnycake simply says his Spritz will help her recipes, so she should spritz with ease. Strawberry says that was a fun rhyme, but continues to ask about Kiki, to which Johnnycake asks "can't you see how busy I am?" and if she doesn't want the spritz, to kindly scram. Strawberry notes that he rhymes even when he's mean. Raspberry tells Strawberry that con-berries like him are a dime-a-dozen, and that he'll be gone in a week.
Presumably one week later, the entire Berryworks has become obsessed with the Sensational Sweetening Spritz, all of the vendors are selling Spritz-themed treats, while everyberry else is using the spritz on anything, even non edible items like a guitar and a clipboard. Raspberry admits that she was wrong about what she said earlier and Strawberry notices that everyone's obsessed with the spritz but them. She tells Raspberry that she knows that as friends they don't really fitz, but if they can truce until they solve the spritz. Raspberry reluctantly agrees, but tells Strawberry to not rhyme again, which Strawberry reluctantly agrees to.
The two rivals, hiding in Strawberry's roof garden, begin spying on Johnnycake continuing to sell his Spritz. Raspberry points out how illogical his claim of where he gets the ingredients form is, since Banana Beach is far from Big Apple City, and Berryville is even farther. Strawberry decides to try the Spritz but is disgusted, saying it definitely isn't sensational. She notes it tastes like watery brown sugar, and then wonders if it might actually be water and brown sugar, and Johnnycake Cobbler is nothing more than a fibber. Raspberry also wonders if he's making the spritz behind his stage as she passes Strawberry her binoculars...since he actually is making it behind the stage by mixing brown sugar and water together. The two gasp at what they've found.
Raspberry and Strawberry walk up to Johnnycake Cobbler's stage during his sales pitch, claiming that they have an announcement. Strawberry dramatically says she and Raspberry are hanging up their aprons and quitting, as their baking can't compete with the Spritz, to the shock of their friends and the crowd. Raspberry adds that they've decided to move to Strawberry's hometown of Berryville to work on their baking. Raspberry then notes that Johnnycake said he's been to Berryville to get ingredients, which Johnnycake confirms, as he made it clear that he does go there every year. Strawberry asks Johnnycake what's his favorite place in Berryville, the Pumpkin Patch or the Orange Grove. Johnnycake quickly stammers out that he enjoys the Pumpkin Patch, to which Strawberry dramatically climbs onto a nearby box, pointing out that there is no Pumpkin Patch in Berryville. Johnnycake quickly changes his answer to the Orange Grove but Strawberry tells him there isn't one either, and Berryville is a really small place.
Strawberry announces that Johnnycake Cobbler is a fibber, to the shock of their friends and the crowd. Raspberry tells them that the Spritz is just brown sugar and water and has the footage to prove it, holding up a video recording on her phone, showing Johnnycake mixing brown sugar and water in large barrels. The crowd immediately turns on Johnnycake and starts demanding refunds. Johnnycake decides to bail and quickly climbs in his cart to drive off, everyberry chasing after him.
Strawberry is glad they managed to expose Johnnycake, which Raspberry agrees with. After a brief awkward pause, Strawberry decides to leave to watch Bite of the City, which Raspberry was also going to do. As they walk back to their carts, Raspberry tries to ask Strawberry if she wants to watch the show together, but gets cold feet and decides against it. Strawberry awkwardly says goodbye to Raspberry as the two girls continue walking away. The episode ends with both girls watching Bite of the City alone in their trucks.
Cast[]
- Ana Sani as Strawberry Shortcake
- Tabitha St. Germain as Raspberry Tart
- Ian Hanlin as Johnnycake Cobbler
- Crystal Balint as Kiki KeyLime (audio only)
- Diana Kaarina as Blueberry Muffin
- Margarita Valderrama as Lime Chiffon
- Bahia Watson as Orange Blossom
- Various as Angry Mob of Customers
Non-Voiced Appearance[]
- Lemon Meringue
- Bread Pudding
- Huckleberry Pie
- Sour Grapes
- Mr. Mangosteen
- Bobby Bananabee
- Spicy Crust
- Hippy Berry
- Customer Berry
- Studio Executive
- Old Man
- Deliveryboy
- Salesberry
- Customer #2
Trivia[]
- This episode has the longest title in the series, with 45 letters, 4 spaces, and 1 apostrophe, for a total of 50 characters.
- Johnnycake Cobbler is the last new character to be introduced in Season 1. He was originally not meant to be included, as Mike Vogel didn't want any more new characters in that batch of episodes, but when Shannon McClung simply pitched Johnnycake's name, Vogel immediately made an exception.[1]
Continuity[]
- One of the customers was eating Strawberry's choco-mint pie from "Mint-eresting"
- Raspberry Tart's growing fondness for Strawberry comes up again, having first been hinted at in "New Years Wish".
- Yet another similarity between Strawberry Shortcake and Raspberry Tart is revealed, as the latter turns out to be a huge fan of Kiki KeyLime, and takes her advice to heart much like Strawberry.
Errors[]
- When the crowd is angry over the reveal of Johnnycake being a swindler Bread Pudding's purple neck accessory overlaps his collar.
- Raspberry Tart's name is mispelled as "Raspberry Tarte" in the credits.
- Half of the crowd from the earlier scenes disappear when they begin to chase off Johnnycake Cobbler. It's especially noticable as Huck and Bread were a part of the crowd, yet are absent in the angry mob chasing Johnnycake.
Video[]
Gallery[]
Click here to see the gallery of the episode