Duff Goldman had a brilliant idea how he could help fund his rock n’roll ambitions…making cakes. Charm City Cakes was founded in Goldman’s home of Baltimore in 2002, and if the concept of musician turned baker seems almost as unnatural as me in the kitchen, it’s not. Duff had been cooking professionally since the age of 14, and as a chef, baker and pastry chef since 1994- where he would go on to graduate from the renowned Culinary Institute of America, Napa in 1998.
Charm City Cakes eventually grew into a group of artists who became unparalleled in the art of cake decorating, and it wasn’t long before Duff and the shop caught the eye of Food Network, which subsequently aired his show Ace of Cakes for 10 seasons. With his newfound fame, Duff packed up his butter and sugar and headed to Los Angeles to open up the West Coast expansion of his bakery- where you will find flavors such as peanut butter & jelly, pumpkin chocolate chip, s’mores, strawberry shortcake and more.
Last year, Duff encouraged Angelenos to play with their food, literally, and opened a full-service bakery and decorating studio Duff’s Cakemix, located next door to Charm City Cakes on Melrose Avenue. A high concept space where customers can come to decorate their own cakes- and unleash their inner Suzy Homemaker– Duff has provided a venue of which you can hang out and bake like a Food Network star. With enough room to host a private event for 60, celebrities like Jennifer Garner bring their kids to create DIY cake masterpieces that are made by these simple steps- choose your size, canvas, canvas color and frosting colors, then finish it off with decorations from the Goodie Bar. While I do love to hunt down a good cake now and again, it might be fun to have a go at making one. Perhaps I’ll bring out my Suzy Bake Oven for a test run. www.duffscakemix.com
