Duff Goldman became a household name in kitchens across America thanks to his hit show Ace of Cakes, which ran for 10 seasons on Food Network. On the reality-style show, Duff could be seen creating cakes at his Baltimore, Maryland, bakery Charm City Cakes that required power tools, blow torches or even motorized parts. Basically, if cake-baking could be considered rebellious, then Duff could be considered the James Dean of the kitchen. Which is why it is even more adorable that when Duff became a dad to his daughter, Josephine, in 2022, the first thing he wanted to do was throw her a very girly tea party, which he documented on Duff: Ace of Taste.

Duff and his wife, Johnna, recently welcomed a baby boy to the family, so while congratulations are certainly in order, we’re guessing Duff may have his hands a little too full this year for any elaborate parties.

For Josephine’s tea party, Duff said he wanted the menu to be “dainty in size but huge in flavors,” so he started with the first dish, miniature savory tarts. “We are going to have a lot of sweet stuff, but I also want to do something a little bit savory,” he explained. The tarts were filled with egg custard, crispy bacon, fontina cheese and topped with whipped crème fraîche — a far cry from pureed peas.

Duff shared that he prefers to make pie dough in a food processor because, “It’s a really consistent way to get fantastic pie dough every single time.” He then added cold butter to the flour mixture, which is a strict rule in baking. “Cold butter — flaky pie crust,” he said. Once the dough was mixed into a sand-like consistency, he rolled it out and cut it into circles so they would fit inside miniature pie molds. “They're tiny and cute, just like my daughter,” said the smitten dad.

Once the tiny pastry cups firmed up in the freezer for about 30 minutes, Duff filled them with the savory egg custard. He placed some cooked bacon on the bottom first. “This might be my daughter’s first bacon,” he cooed. I wonder if they put that in their baby book?

Next, he made miniature, three-layer sponge cakes filled with decadent buttercream icing for the occasion. The cakes are made with an almond flour base, which makes them “really tender and really soft and have a slight almond flavor,” Duff said.

To make “the spongiest, lightest cake ever,” Duff made a meringue that he folded into the cake batter. After the cakes were baked and cooled, Duff cut them into small circles. The nice thing about these cakes is that the batter was baked on sheet pans instead of in cake pans, so they are fairly thin. Meaning, even when stacked into three layers, they’re still perfectly bite-sized.

“Oh man, I can’t wait to see that little baby eat this little cake. This is going to be so cute!” Duff said as he lovingly piped buttercream icing on each of the cake layers. After stacking them, Duff decorated them with candy flowers until it seemed he remembered that someone was going to have to deal with the baby's post-sugar meltdown and that someone could be him. “Let’s call these done."

The last thing Duff prepared for the tea party was mini fudge bites. “For me, fudge is the ultimate treat,” he said. This recipe is made with condensed milk, semisweet chocolate and lightly toasted walnuts and is surprisingly simple to make.

After all of his meticulous prep, it was finally tea party time! Duff, his wife, Johnna, and baby Jospehine were joined by Jet Tila and his family, who are close friends and nearby neighbors. Everyone was happy to oblige in the theme, even donning flower crowns, but no one could hold a candle to Duff, who made a memorable entrance wearing a pink tutu and fairy wings. If that doesn’t say committed girl dad, we don’t know what else does.

Duff watched Josephine sample everything with childlike excitement. “Did she try it?” Duff asked Johnna, referring to the fudge.

“Yeah, she took a big bite,” she told him. It seems baby Josephine was born with a sweet tooth just like her dear old dad.