Ace of Cakes
Encyclopedia
Ace of Cakes is an American reality television show which airs on the Food Network
. The show focuses on the daily operations of Duff Goldman
's custom cake shop, Charm City Cakes, in Baltimore, Maryland; including small-business ownership, working with various vendors, tasting with customers, constructing cakes, and delivering his products.
Some of the notable cakes created by Charm City Cakes include cakes for the Preakness Stakes
horse race at Pimlico in Maryland, Baltimore Zoo, the premiere of the 2007 film Hairspray
, a replica of Radio City Music Hall
for the Rockettes, a hatbox-shaped cake for an 80-year-old grandmother, the Hogwarts castle for the premiere of the fifth installment of Harry Potter
in Los Angeles, an edible replica of Wrigley Field
, a replica of the shark ray at the Newport Aquarium
, a cake for the Paramount Pictures premiere of the DreamWorks
Animation film Kung-Fu Panda, and a replica of the Hubble Space Telescope
for NASA
For the season finale of Season 5, the bakery's staff traveled to Hawaii
to create a cake for the 100th episode of Lost
.
. A one-hour special featured the show's first international delivery, to London, England in an episode aired in December 2010. Season 10, planned to be the program's last (despite its popularity), premiered in January 2011 and had six episodes. The final episode featured a large scale Delorean time machine cake created for Universal Studios' Back to the Future anniversary event in New York City.
.
Ace of Cakes has been a very large success with fans and critics alike, and began airing its ninth season in July 2010. The show has brought Food Network some of the highest ratings it has ever received for a prime-time program.
Ace of Cakes is also broadcasted in the United Kingdom
on Good Food, México
and Latin America on FOXLIFE New Zealand
on the Food Channel and in Australia
on LifeStyle Food
.
On November 19, 2010, Food Network announced that the 10th season of Ace of Cakes would be its last and began airing in January 2011, ending shortly after in February.
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
. The show focuses on the daily operations of Duff Goldman
Duff Goldman
Jeffrey Adam "Duff" Goldman is a pastry chef and television personality. He is the executive chef of the Baltimore-based Charm City Cakes shop which is featured in the Food Network reality television show Ace of Cakes...
's custom cake shop, Charm City Cakes, in Baltimore, Maryland; including small-business ownership, working with various vendors, tasting with customers, constructing cakes, and delivering his products.
Synopsis
Ace of Cakes highlights the frantic activity encompassing the production of a substantial number of custom cakes in a short period of time. The staff consists primarily of Duff Goldman's good friends who have varying personalities, making the show very humorous at times. They are frequently shown working long hours to build and decorate the cakes, yet are always making jokes to offset the alleged stress of hitting each deadline. Staff members sometimes drive the cakes to their final destinations, which can require road trips of several hundred miles. Goldman has an informal approach to running Charm City Cakes. He is known for using non-traditional cooking utensils such as blow torches, belt sanders, and power saws, and more to construct his designs.Some of the notable cakes created by Charm City Cakes include cakes for the Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
horse race at Pimlico in Maryland, Baltimore Zoo, the premiere of the 2007 film Hairspray
Hairspray (2007 film)
Hairspray is a 2007 musical film produced by Kolaja Productions and distributed by New Line Cinema. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John...
, a replica of Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
for the Rockettes, a hatbox-shaped cake for an 80-year-old grandmother, the Hogwarts castle for the premiere of the fifth installment of Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
in Los Angeles, an edible replica of Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
, a replica of the shark ray at the Newport Aquarium
Newport Aquarium
-External links:*...
, a cake for the Paramount Pictures premiere of the DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
Animation film Kung-Fu Panda, and a replica of the Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
for NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
For the season finale of Season 5, the bakery's staff traveled to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
to create a cake for the 100th episode of Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
.
Episodes
Season one of Ace of Cakes consisted of six episodes airing in early fall 2006. The show proved to be one of the highest-rated prime time shows in Food Network's history, causing the network to order 13 episodes for season two including an hour-long episode featuring the official NFL cake for Super Bowl XLISuper Bowl XLI
Super Bowl XLI was an American football game that featured the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season...
. A one-hour special featured the show's first international delivery, to London, England in an episode aired in December 2010. Season 10, planned to be the program's last (despite its popularity), premiered in January 2011 and had six episodes. The final episode featured a large scale Delorean time machine cake created for Universal Studios' Back to the Future anniversary event in New York City.
| Season | Season premiere | Season finale |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 17, 2006 | September 21, 2006 |
| 2 | January 18, 2007 | May 17, 2007 |
| 3 | July 19, 2007 | December 13, 2007 |
| 4 | January 24, 2008 | May 1, 2008 |
| 5 | June 29, 2008 | October 16, 2008 |
| 6 | January 15, 2009 | May 9, 2009 |
| 7 | July 19, 2009 | October 29, 2009 |
| 8 | January 21, 2010 | April 22, 2010 |
| 9 | July 1, 2010 | December 9, 2010 |
| 10 (final) |
January 2011 (planned) |
February 10, 2011 (last episode) (series finale) |
Production
Ace of Cakes is shot on location at the bakery in Baltimore, Maryland, a converted church. The show has also featured other locations where Duff, Geof and occasionally others travel to in delivery of cakes such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Miami, Boston, Alaska, Hawaii and others. The show is edited in Los Angeles at the show's production company, Authentic Entertainment, a subsidiary of EndemolEndemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
.
Reception
During Season 8, Ace of Cakes launched a new promotion concept involving a deck of Las Vegas style playing cardsAce of Cakes has been a very large success with fans and critics alike, and began airing its ninth season in July 2010. The show has brought Food Network some of the highest ratings it has ever received for a prime-time program.
Ace of Cakes is also broadcasted in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on Good Food, México
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Latin America on FOXLIFE New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
on the Food Channel and in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on LifeStyle Food
LifeStyle Food
LifeStyle Food is an Australian food channel, solely dedicated to food, wine and restaurant society. The channel is a subsidiary of The LifeStyle Channel, which runs 24 hours a day on the Foxtel and Austar.-Programming:******-External links:****...
.
On November 19, 2010, Food Network announced that the 10th season of Ace of Cakes would be its last and began airing in January 2011, ending shortly after in February.