Duff Goldman Shares Why 'The Ultimate Baking Championship' Is a Pastry Chef Playground

From Holiday Baking Championship to Super Mega Cakes, Food Network is home to some of the most challenging and over-the-top baking competitions on television. But nothing compares to the network’s newest venture, The Ultimate Baking Championship. Hosted by baking legend Duff Goldman, The Ultimate Baking Championship lives up to its namesake by challenging 16 elite pastry chefs to flex their baking techniques from classics like chocolate and sugar work to never-before-seen skills on Food Network, like laminated dough. The prize? The title of Ultimate Baking Champion and $50,000.

Ahead, Duff sits down with Food Network to discuss the competitors, judges and challenges that make The Ultimate Baking Championship one of the most exciting competitions yet.

FN: What excited you most when you first heard about the concept for this show?

Duff: I’m a huge nerd. I love the minutiae of everything. I love seeing the techniques that people use for things I’ve never even heard of. I've been cooking my whole life. I'm a pastry chef. I study this stuff. I write books about this stuff. I dream about this stuff. Cooking and baking are part of my soul and part of my DNA, so just the simple fact of being in the room and watching 16 absolutely crazy good pastry chefs do the things they do and get to geek out and be like, "Wow, that’s cool," that's the thing that gets me up in the morning. It’s why people love Food Network. They get to watch people who are passionate and good at their jobs do what they do.

FN: Without giving too much away, was there one moment that really made you geek out this season?

Duff: The highlight was Amaury Guichon. He’s an incredible chocolatier. He made this tiny little chocolate box with a rose in it and a glass dome on top. The cloche was sugar, the rose was sugar, the box was chocolate — and it was this cute little 7-inch high by 5-inch wide box, but it was absolutely perfect. Then, we cut into it and it was delicious. We all have encountered incredible, beautiful culinary things and you bite into it and, eh, it’s alright, but it’s so beautiful that you don’t even care. But when Amaury did it, the cake was tender, moist, and beautiful and the raspberries just sang. Everything about it was perfect. When I started Charm City Cakes, my goal was to make beautiful — well, my goal was to make enough money to pay the rent — but I wanted to make beautiful cakes that didn’t taste like wedding cakes. I was a pastry chef before I was making cakes and I wanted them to be delicious, so it's something that I always look for and rarely find.

FN: The list of guest judges is wild. There are so many talented people. You’re the permanent judge. You’ve got Jesse Palmer hosting. Give us a little tease on some of the other judges we can expect to see and how that dynamic works on set.

Duff: All of the judges are incredible, like Shinmin Li. When Shinmin came out, all of the contestants were really big fans. They were so excited to share their craft with her. Seeing people that are well-known in different spheres than the one that I occupy is beautiful. Having Sherry Yard anywhere is always such a joy because she is a ray of sunshine. She is such a knowledgeable pastry chef and has such a joyful way of describing things that are incredibly complex. Getting to stand there with Jacques Torres as he is critiquing sugar work and listen to him speak was amazing. Jacques was the person who first opened my eyes to the fact that cakes could be something other than a round thing you buy at a grocery store. It’s crazy to stand there with these titans of what they do.

FN: It’s called 'Ultimate' Baking Championship. That’s a pretty bold title. What do the contestants have to do to earn this ultimate title at the end of this?

Duff: Basically, what we do is we put them through the paces as far as all of the skills that a really well-rounded pastry chef needs to have. There’s chocolate, of course. We cover chocolate in a lot of the other shows, but the depth at which we go into chocolate on Ultimate Baking Championship is different. I think the viewers are really going to get a good understanding of not only how to do it but why it’s so difficult. Beyond chocolate, these chefs did a lot more sugar work, which is so fascinating and beautiful to watch because it can only be mastered through constant repetition and constant failure. We also did things like laminated dough, which you don't get to see very often on Holiday Baking Championship or some of the other shows, because it takes a long time. It’s a difficult proposition even in the best of circumstances, and then you add in the film crews and sound guys and producers and me. We never get to use yeast on any other show because it takes so long, but it’s fascinating. This time, we got to do it, and people are going to really like it.

FN: We’re going to finish things off with a few rapid-fire questions. Most underrated dessert?

Duff: Ice cream novelties: Fat Frog, Chocolate Taco, Drumsticks, Bomb Pops.

FN: A pastry technique that always impresses you?

Duff: Really good seafoam or honeycomb. It's not difficult, but it’s also easy to mess it up. When you get a seafoam that's been cooked to the correct temperature, it’s got the right snap, it doesn't turn into a gummy ball of sadness when you're eating it. I’ve only been successful, like, twice in my life.

FN: A kitchen tool you refuse to live without?

Duff: My mallet. I have a big metal mallet with spikes on one side, like a mace, and it's flat on the other side. That thing is really useful.

FN: A baking trend you secretly love and one you wish would disappear?

Duff: One I wish would disappear is things that are overly salty. You hear me when I’m judging. One of my comments 80 percent of the time is, "This needs more salt," because people just don’t use salt. They were never taught that you need to season your food, even if it’s ice cream. Salt is really important, but there’s a correct amount of salt.

One that I secretly love — I’m going to say something, and you’re going to be like, "No way!" — that I have professed hate for my whole career is cupcakes. The reason why I get so mad at cupcakes is they were so huge for a minute there. They were everywhere. I’m over here making 6-foot-tall cakes with motors and lights and lasers. These incredible works of art that are just, "How is this real?" And then I got Steve over here saying, "Hey, I make cupcakes. You and me, huh?" And I'm like, "No. We're not the same." But I love cake. I never get tired of cake and so a cupcake is a great way to have a little bit of cake without having to get a whole cake.

FN: You heard it here first, Duff Goldman is a fan of cupcakes.

Duff: I’m never going to hear the end of it.

This interview was taken from Duff's episode of Food Network's podcast Food Obsessed. Listen to the entire conversation on Apple Podcasts.

How to Watch The Ultimate Baking Championship

The Ultimate Baking Championship airs on Food Network Monday nights at 9|8c. Episodes are available to stream on HBO Max and discovery+ starting the next day. Check out Food Network’s Instagram to go behind the scenes of the competition and learn impressive baking techniques from Duff, Shinmin, Jacques and more. Stay up to date on The Ultimate Baking Championship news, learn about the competitors and more on FoodNetwork.com.