The Evolution of Duff Goldman: From Ace of Cakes to Buddy vs. Duff

Jeffrey Adam Goldman was born in Detroit in 1974 before his family moved to Missouri. His nickname came from his older brother, Willie, who was unable to pronounce Jeffrey and, instead, said “Duffy.” It stuck. Thank goodness. Not sure we could handle a Jeff and a Geof.

Duff’s been working in kitchens since he was 14, from his first job at a bagel store at the mall to fry cook at McDonald’s. In college, he applied to work as a cook at the Charleston, one of Baltimore’s finest restaurants, but head chef Cindy Wolf told him he lacked experience. She did, however, offer him a position making only cornbread and biscuits. That was the turning point in his career.

Post-university (he graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, with degrees in philosophy and history), Duff attended the Culinary Institute of America, where he discovered he possessed serious cake-making skills. He then worked at The French Laundry, run by renowned chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Thomas Keller. It was there that Duff realized food and art could become one beautiful thing.

He first launched his cake business in 2000, out of his Mount Vernon, Vir. apartment, where he would make one cake a week. But as time went by, his confections were becoming more in demand and by 2002, he opened Charm City Cakes — this time out of a studio in Baltimore. By 2003, Duff sold $130,000 worth of cakes, nearly three times what he sold his first year.

In 2006, Ace of Cakes was born. It focused on the daily operations of Charm City Cakes as Duff and his equally fun and quirky staff go about their daily routines, from constructing cakes (using a variety of traditional and unconventional tools like belt sanders, blowtorches and power saws) for the famous and non-famous to delivering their finished creations to satisfied customers all over the U.S. The show ran for 10 seasons over five years, coming to an end in 2011.

Some of the more memorable events Charm City Cakes were the premieres of Kung-Fu Panda, Hairspray and a couple of the Harry Potter movies, and replicas of Radio City Music Hall for The Rockettes, Wrigley Field, and the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA.

Ace of Cakes may have ended but that didn’t mean things were less busy for Duff. On the contrary, he opened his second bakery, this time in Los Angeles, which has the same Baltimore charm just in sunnier conditions. And more famous people.

After nearly three years of dating, Duff and girlfriend Johnna Colbry got married, on Jan. 21, 2019. And naturally there were three cakes served up at the ceremony. The first was an underwater-themed creation that hung from the ceiling; the second was a traditional white wedding cake for Johnna; and the third was a meat cake for Duff, where the bottom tier was meatballs, second tier was meatloaf, third tier was lamb shawarma and the top was scrapple. Mashed potatoes made up the “icing,” it was adorned with bacon roses and gravy cascaded from the chocolate fountain. Obviously.

His latest competition, Buddy vs. Duff, is now in its second season. Duff took the crown in Season 1; we’ll have to see if he can hold Buddy off once more.