Fans of the Ace of Cakes TV show rejoice! The book you dreamed of is baked to perfection and ready to serve. However, if you’re not a fan or have never watched the show, you’re still in for a delicious treat. Meet Chef Duff Goldman and his staff who make up the family-like group that works at Charm City Cakes as well as being part of the team that whips things up on the Ace of Cakes show. Now they come together in this wonderful book that is put together more like a work of art/novel than a cookbook, just as the show is more of a documentary than a reality type of TV.
What you get in the book is information about each of the talented people on the show who make up the always creative, often eccentric group of cake artists. Duff, along with her younger brother her Jeff, have put together a book that may look like it belongs in the kitchen, but will most likely end up on a coffee table somewhere to be read and shared quite often.
The same love for what they do on the show is evident in the book. Filled with full color photography, you get to know each member of the show as they are all such a talented team, each with a specific talent that has translated into the cake decorating business. Each person has their own section on what their own experience at Charm City Cakes and on the show is like. They tell how they came to be in the cake design business. Hundreds of photographs cover the bakery and pastry shop, as well as some of its interesting customers. The photographs are smaller than you might expect, but I’m pretty sure that’s because they had so much they wanted to share. It’s more than pictures that make this book so unique. The history of Charm City Cakes and the people that make up the business and the show are the real stars here. Yes, this is a book that will make you drool, but you will also read it with interest and delight, especially if you are already a fan of the show. If you’re not, I guess you soon will be.
Along with each Charm City Cakes staff member writing about themselves, they also created a special cake for this book. The baking and decorating tips are amazing and the humor irreverent so you get the true feel of the artsy, creative and laid-back mood of the show and its boss. This is a book you will return to many times to read and look at. I found it very funny, filled with many interesting stories about the creative staff and the most amazingly decorated cakes one could find anywhere. If you’re not thrilled with this group of Charm City Cake and their leader, Chef Duff, then it’s obviously not your cup of tea—or shall we say, your slice of cake. But chances are you’ll delight in the cakes, the stories and the pictures… there’s something for everyone in this, yum!
