Post-Ace of Cakes, Charm City Cakes is Up to Plenty

Duff Goldman, owner of Charm City Cakes, wants everybody to be clear on two things. One, though the reality show about his shop, Ace of Cakes, has stopped filming after ten seasons, the bakery is not closing. Two, he says the place isn't moving, but expanding to Los Angeles as a sister location, Charm City Cakes West. "It's going to be basically the Baltimore embassy to LA," Goldman says. "When you walk in, you'll be on Baltimore soil."

The volume of cake orders coming from the City of Angels is one motivation, but Duff also has a personal reason for opening Charm City Cakes West. "Are we actually good at this?" he wonders, "I think I can do it again, but I don't know." If the new bakery is as successful as the one at 2936 Remington Avenue, he'll have proved that television magic isn't the true reason his cakes are so popular.

In LA, Duff will be executive chef; here, former sous chef Geof Manthorne has taken charge. And though Duff is taking three members of the Baltimore staff with him, he predicts that both bakeries will end up stealing people back and forth to work on cakes which call for some particular expertise.

But opening a second shop three time zones away is only the beginning for Duff. "Filming took up so much time," he says, "I had to literally be here in this building all the time." Now he's free -- and with enough up his sleeves to fill a drawer-ful of shirts.

On Monday April 4th, the bakery launched Cakes for Two, a line of smaller cakes created to allow more fans entry into the building and taste-testing of the bakery's creations. At $250 each -- still a quarter of the price of sculpted versions -- the eight inch round cakes are pre-designed and actually serve fifteen. "Everyone wants to try the cakes but you don't want to just stick your finger in for a thousand bucks," says Duff,  "It's a big commitment."

With set windows for pickup times and the ability to place an order just forty-eight hours in advance, at least some of the fans and tourists who flock on the sidewalk outside the bakery should get the opportunity they crave. Not only that, but Duff originally envisioned the smaller cakes as a more accessible charity product -- cakes that people would actually want at an auction, since few would know what to do with one of Charm's typical behemoths if they won it.

Available dates and designs are listed on the Cakes for Two website. And another tasting option is now on shelves at grocery stores: Duff's own ice cream flavors. March saw the launch of Blue Bunny's cake-flavored ice creams, coming in triple chocolate, strawberry shortcake, red velvet, or wedding cake.

"If I could go back in time to my six year old self and tell him I get my own ice cream in the future, I'd die happy," Duff says. So far, the frozen treats are "doing gang-busting." Blue Bunny executives are calling for more.

Meanwhile, the bakery has been busting even more gangs with its line of decorating supplies. Last year, the shop began selling a few items to help people make custom cakes at home, starting with instant cut-out decorations on rice paper transfer sheets. Now they have about seventy different items for sale in craft stores -- everything from rolling pins to food coloring to fondant.

When Duff started decorating, he says, most retail supplies were "garbage." The good stuff was too expensive to buy without a tax ID number. "I want people to like decorating cakes," he says. His goal in selling supplies is to make creating custom designs a less scary proposition. He hopes there will be up to 250 different items for sale this fall, each of which is tested and used by every decorator in the bakery.

In May, Duff will begin filming another show, one not based on his bakery. The new series, with working title "Sugar High," will feature the Chef-extraordinaire riding around the country on a motorcycle, testing and critiquing different desserts. "Basically, its Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, but for desserts," he says. "On Ace of Cakes, I never really got to show my knowledge. I was there to inspire and entertain." While he'll still do that on Sugar High, Duff is also excited about also getting to impart actual information to his viewers.

So between two busy bakeries, new lines of both cakes and  ice cream, the decorating supplies, and now another show about to begin production, is Duff's platter full yet? Hardly.

"I have a whole new career now," he says -- in public speaking. At least once a week if not more, Duff is talking to groups all over the US and Canada. He never thought it was something he'd be good at, but bookings abound after his first gig turned out to be a comedic hit.

Despite the constant travel and the new base in LA, Duff is keeping an apartment here in the city. He thinks he'll be back at least once a month, probably more. "Baltimore is my anchor,"he says, and the bakery will be here "til judgment day."


Amy Dusto is a freelance writer in Baltimore who has been writing for Bmore since November.


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Photo credits:

- Katherine Hill, decorator, works at Charm City Cakes in the Remington neighborhood of Baltimore. Photo by Arianne Teeple
-"Cakes for Two" cake designs. Photo by Arianne Teeple
-A portrait of Duff Goldman. Photo by Sam Holden
-Katie Rose, decorator, paints fondant for a cake. Photo by Arianne Teeple
-Duff Goldman has a new line of cake flavored ice cream he created with Blue Bunny ice cream. Photo by Arianne Teeple
-Charm City Cakes in the Remington neighborhood of Baltimore. Photo by Arianne Teeple
-Homepage image by Sam Holden