When Duff Goldman, Food Network's "Ace of Cakes," envisioned Charm City Cakes in Baltimore nearly a decade ago, his goal was to make wonderful cakes for friends and family. As word spread about his fabulous creations, his dream grew into a nationally renowned business staffed by a team of talented professionals, including musicians, artists, and creative souls with experience in architectural modeling, graphic design, deejaying, coffee making, performance art, dog walking, sculpture, painting and more.
Aces of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes is a celebration of the bakery that started it all. This colorful scrapbook is loaded with stories about Duff's early days as a graffiti artist turned young chef, his successes and hilarious disasters, and the amazing team he built step-by-step. Through candid interviews and profiles and hundreds of photographs, illustrations, and collages, the book shows how energy, inspiration, collaboration, and a bit of luck can conspire to help anyone achieve their creative vision.
Of course, at the center of this stunning book are Charm City's Cakes. From the simple to the breathtakingly complex, Duff shows off some of the bakery's more unusual techniques and tools that shape their famous creations. He also offers a behind-the-scenes look at his Food Network show, shares his most incredible customer stories and requests, and reveals some of the bakery's favorite cake facts and tips--along with a comprehensive episode guide and a monster cake montage featuring seven years' worth of the bakery's astonishing cake creations.
With the gloss of a high-end coffee-table book but the affection and charm of a personal scrapbook, Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes takes you behind the scenes of the popular Food Network TV show and into the heart of Charm City Cakes. This is a fine exploration of a remarkable group of people (artists, really), well produced with a huge serving of fun. One need not be a fan of the show to enjoy this book.
For fans of the show, however, Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes is going to be akin to a holy grail of sorts. You've found that completing feature you've been looking for. The book is so well edited, it can be enjoyed a few different ways: You can easily flip through the pages, browsing, savoring each suprisingly lush photograph. (Think travel guide crossed with food magazine photography.) You can also dig in and discover a bunch of flavors you didn't notice about the show and cast before. One particularly nice feature for the detail-oriented reader is the episode guide at the book's end. There you'll get summaries, featured cakes, and memorable quotes from each edition of Ace of Cakes. Another real treat is the fold-out cake montage. Wow!
Fun, informative, and expertly done, this volume feels like something Duff cooked up special just for us. There's so much content here that you'll have something to chew on for a while. Comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
ENJOY!
P.S. If you have yet to partake of the TV show, I'd encourage you to check out Ace of Cakes: The Complete First and Second Seasons (6 DVD Set).
writes,
This is not a cookbook. If you are a huge fan of Ace of Cakes on Food Network, or you know a fan, this is would be a super gift. I am a fan and I enjoyed this book. It is an autobiography of Duff Goldman and how he became the Ace of Cakes. Even if you are not a big fan of the show, the beautiful pictures in the book are sure to inspire any cake decorator to reach beyond their current capability to even bigger, better, and more beautiful art on their cakes. The story chronicles Duff from before he was born and talks about the influence his mother and grandmother and even great grandmother had on him. It follows him through school (briefly) and into college and along the way to where he currently is now. We also get to read about how the other members of the staff came to be with him and about where they came from and their inspirations. The pictures are fanastic also and reminds me of coffee table art books.
writes,
This book is pure fun. If you love reading about offbeat entrepreneurs or if you just love the tv show, you will adore the book, which is quite simply a paean to all things Charm City. Included are bios of everyone at the shop, details about the production of the show, facts about cake behavior and how to outwit it, hundreds of photos of fantastically decorated cakes and a good idea of the blood, sweat and tears that went into the creation of this successful entrepreneurial business - and that continues to go into maintaining it.
I would have awarded the book 5 stars, but I deducted 1/2 star for the way too tiny pictures of cakes in the centerfolds (you need a magnifying glass) and another 1/2 star for not including at least one little Charm City recipe.
