"Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro is out of the cast he had on his impaled right hand, and showing it off for the first time ... while also talking about his challenging road to recovery.
TMZ got this exclusive clip of a new TV special documenting Buddy's horrific freak accident. You get to see the TLC reality star getting the plaster removed. The Boss' cake hand was covered in stitches and staples, but the good news is he's starting to get feeling back.
Now, if you're squeamish, watching his son, Buddy Valastro Jr., give an up-close view of the bowling pinsetter that caught his dad's hand ... might be a little rough. Straight out of a horror movie.
Luckily, Buddy's strength in that all-important hand is improving -- which he displayed for us on "TMZ Live" ... complete with a gnarly scar and everything.
As for how he's navigating his cake biz these days, BV says he's had to teach himself how to be ambidextrous -- for virtually every task, really -- but has a ways to go until he's back in tip-top shape. Sounds like he's leaning left now, which has its limitations.
Still, it's pretty miraculous he's come along as well as he has considering the severity of that September accident ... when the pinsetter stabbed right through his hand -- flesh, bone, tendon and all -- which required a bunch of surgeries.
Speaking of that, Buddy tells us he's actually glad he captured a lot of that action on camera -- which will air in that new TV special above -- because he says it helped show exactly what happened, which led him to the right hand doctor almost immediately.
Watch ... he admits it wasn't easy to watch, but says hitting record paid off.