From a tilted Dr. Seuss-like seven-tiered wedding cake to a cake replica of Wrigley Field, to a car engine cake that shoots fireworks, if you can imagine it, Baltimore chef Duff Goldman has probably created it.
And now, the owner of Charm City Cakes will hit the airwaves with a new reality show on the Food Network.
The show, “Ace of Cakes,” will focus on the daily activities of Goldman?s cake-making business where he and his team of design artists (yes, all of his employees are art graduates) make up to 20 custom-designed cakes per week, some of which can take up to 29 hours.
“It?s sort of the day-to-day craziness that happens in our bakery. It?s the pressure of getting the cakes done on time and getting them done well,” Goldman said. “There is no reality TV formula for this type of drama because we?re so deadline driven. The deadline is already here, and the drama is already here. We don?t have to fake stuff, it?s a very natural feeling show.”
Goldman said that the first season will consist of six shows. If the ratings do well for the show, he said a second season is definitely a possibility.
Goldman was originally approached by Los Angeles-based Authentic Entertainment, the show?s production company, when he was doing a live theater cooking show in Baltimore. One of the audience members videotaped the show and sent it to the production company, which then shopped the pilot around to various networks before striking a deal with the Food Network.
“It seemed like a good idea. It looked fun, and it seemed like the logical next step in my career,” Goldman said. “To think that people are spending all of this time, money and effort to bring this to the masses is really flattering. It will be a very funny show.”
Charles Nordlander, vice president of programming development at the Food Network, described the show as “Friends meets Monster Garage in a cake shop.”
“I think that the core group of young characters who work at the bake shop are all very interesting, engaging and very talented, and bring a real sense of both character and story in addition to the process that is normally seen on Food Network,” Nordlander said.
Ace of Cakes
Debuts at 10:30 p.m. Thursday on the Food Network.
