I guess he got sick of doing those complicated cakes by himself. Charm City Cakes’ Duff Goldman opened up a new type of shop, where, instead of paying upwards of $1,000 for a TV-worthy edible sculpture, customers pay up to $52 for an undecorated cake and have a go themselves with fondant and buttercream. (I hear if you slip them an extra hundred dollars they’ll aim a fake television camera at you while you do it.)
The new shop is called Cakemix (I think I would have called it “This Looks Easy to You? Well, Be My Guest!”) and it adjoins Goldman’s L.A. bakery, Charm City Cakes West. Though I’m sure they’ll do plenty more business in L.A., it would be nice if there were a Baltimore location. As it is, Charm City Cakes is something of a tourist disappointment. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Ace of Cakes fans frustratedly pace around the nondescript building, moving from blacked-out window to blacked-out window. Sure they can go next door to The Dizz and buy Charm City Cakes merchandise, and they will. But they won’t like it. If they had any kind of establishment that was open to the public, maybe Dizz patrons would no longer have to watch dedicated cake pilgrims from all over the world frown at them while they’re eating.
