Ace of Cakes lovers, rejoice: Duff Goldman's crazy cakes are back in his Hollywood-based cake shop Charm City Cakes West. Meet the Cake Masters crew that makes his culinary creations possible.
You probably first heard of Duff when he starred in Ace of Cakes, the Food Network show about his Baltimore-based bakery Charm City Cakes, which is famous for its crazy and incredible cake designs. Now Duff is the mastermind and executive chef behind Charm City West, the bakery’s branch in Hollywood, where the stakes are higher and his clientele expect even more epic creations.
If you watched Ace of Cakes, you're definitely familiar with Geof. He's been Duff's right-hand man from the start as Charm City Cakes' lead decorator and cake master. Now he runs the Baltimore branch, but he travels to Los Angeles to help Duff with big projects. “Duff’s a dreamer,” Geof explains. “He comes up with a crazy plan, and typically I’m the one who has to figure out how it’s all going to happen.”
Rachel Dyke
Duff goes to Rachel for all his miniature needs, such as making inch-tall people or dozens of incredibly detailed leaves for tiny trees. She's Charm City’s resident miniature sculptor, which means she can take the detail of a full-sized cake and shrink it down into a tiny treat.
Alyssa Correll
Alyssa is a decorator at Charm City West with a sunny disposition and hard-working attitude. “Alyssa is always smiling,” Duff says. “She’s so positive, she’s having a blast, and her work ethic is amazing. Alyssa will get things done.”
Andrea Wasienko and Mark Muller
With all the crazy-cake making at hand, Charm City West needs people to help things run smoothly; that's where Andrea and Mark come in. Andrea is Charm City West's executive assistant, and Mark is the general manager, which means they work to keep everything in line and find solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems — including how to put real lightning in the middle of a cake. Mark also makes decisions regarding budgets, and he reins Duff in if his pyrotechnics-packed cakes are potentially dangerous or too expensive. “He’s kind of like the voice of my conscience,” Duff says.
Melody Hirose
Melody is the lead decorator in LA, so she handles some of their biggest projects alongside Duff. Duff describes her as a quiet perfectionist and explains that if she doesn’t love something, even if she’s worked on it for days, she’ll scrap it and start over. “She doesn’t say much,” he says. “I think Melody lets her hands speak for her, because every cake that Melody makes still surprises me.”
Tiana Sakona
For edible artistry, Duff turns to decorator Tiana. “Tiana is kind of like a Swiss army knife,” Duff says. “Whatever you need done, Tiana is gonna jump on it.” She helps Duff decorate cakes, design detailed figurines and characters, and put finishing touches on cakes.
Jackie Ordonez
Also a decorator at Charm City Cakes, Jackie is involved in all parts of the cake-making process. From sitting in on creative meetings to stacking, carving and decorating cakes with fondant, Jackie’s on it.
Christine Stormberg
Besides helping Duff create amazing cakes, Christine works as a sculptor on the sets of Hollywood movies and television shows, crafting dynamic and detailed sculptures. She takes her sculpting skills to Charm City Cakes, where she creates intricate and lifelike characters to sit atop Duff’s culinary creations.
Alex Hughes
Alex also has a past working in the movie industry, as a makeup artist. She uses her experience in elaborate makeup design to add lifelike detail to cakes using supplies like gum paste and modeling chocolate.
Jasmine Sarp
Duff goes to Jasmine, one of Charm City Cakes West's decorators, to help bring the cakes to life. She uses fondant, paint, and modeling tools to add detail to a cake and make it look realistic and spectacular.
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