Ace of Cakes
| Ace of Cakes | |
|---|---|
 Series logo as seen in the opening sequence | |
| Genre | Reality |
| Written by | Heather Mitchell Miriam Leffert Dustin Rubin |
| Directed by | Brandy Menefee Jeffrey R. Daniels Matthew Carr |
| Starring | Duff Goldman Geof Manthorne Mary Alice Yeskey Sherri Chambers Anna Ellison Katherine Hill Adam Goldstein Richard Todd Karoll Katie Rose Mary Smith Ben Turner Elena Fox Lauren Friedman Erica Harrison Mark Muller |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 115 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Becca Lewis Tom Rogan |
| Producer | Authentic Entertainment |
| Production location | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Cinematography | Matthew Carr |
| Editor | Grayce Lackland |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Food Network |
| Release | August 17, 2006 – February 10, 2011 |
Ace of Cakes was an American reality television show that aired on the Food Network. The show focused on the daily operations of Duff Goldman's custom cake shop, Charm City Cakes, in Baltimore, Maryland; including small-business ownership, working with various vendors, tasting with customers, constructing cakes, and delivering his products.
Synopsis
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2012) |
Ace of Cakes highlights the frantic activity encompassing the production of a substantial number of custom edible art cakes in a short period of time. The staff consists primarily of Duff Goldman's good friends who have varying personalities. They are frequently shown working long hours to build and decorate the cakes, yet are always making jokes to offset the alleged stress of hitting each deadline. Staff members sometimes drive the cakes to their final destinations, which can require road trips of several hundred miles. Goldman has an informal approach to running Charm City Cakes. He is known for using non-traditional cooking utensils such as blowtorches, belt sanders, and power saws, and more to construct his designs.
Some of the notable cakes created by Charm City Cakes include cakes for the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico in Maryland, Baltimore Zoo, the premiere of the 2007 film Hairspray, a replica of Radio City Music Hall for The Rockettes, a hatbox-shaped cake for an 80-year-old grandmother, the Hogwarts castle for the premiere of the fifth Harry Potter film in Los Angeles, an edible replica of Wrigley Field, a replica of the shark ray at the Newport Aquarium, a cake for the Paramount Pictures premiere of the DreamWorks Animation film Kung-Fu Panda, and a replica of the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA.[2] For the season finale of Season 5, the bakery's staff traveled to Hawaii to create a cake for the 100th episode of Lost.[3]
Episodes
Season one of Ace of Cakes consisted of six episodes airing in early fall 2006. The show proved to be one of the highest-rated prime time shows in Food Network's history, causing the network to order 15 episodes for season two including a 2-hour-long episode featuring the official NFL cake for Super Bowl XLI.[4] A one-hour special featured the show's first international delivery (to London, England) in an episode aired in December 2010. Season 10, planned to be the program's last (despite its popularity), premiered in January 2011 and had six episodes. The final episode featured a large-scale Delorean time machine cake created for Universal Studios' Back to the Future anniversary event in New York City.[5] Seasons 1–5 have been released on DVD.
| Season | Season premiere | Season finale |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 17, 2006 | September 21, 2006 |
| 2 | January 18, 2007 | May 17, 2007 |
| 3 | July 19, 2007 | December 13, 2007 |
| 4 | January 24, 2008 | May 1, 2008 |
| 5 | June 29, 2008 | October 16, 2008 |
| 6 | January 15, 2009 | May 9, 2009 |
| 7 | July 19, 2009 | October 29, 2009 |
| 8 | January 21, 2010 | April 22, 2010 |
| 9 | July 1, 2010 | December 9, 2010 |
| 10 | January 2011 | February 10, 2011 |
Production
Ace of Cakes was shot on location at the bakery in Baltimore, Maryland, a converted church. The show has also featured other locations where Duff, Geof and occasionally others travel to in delivery of cakes such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Miami, Boston, Alaska, and Hawaii, among others. The show was edited in Los Angeles at the show's production company, Authentic Entertainment, a subsidiary of Endemol.[6]
Reception
During Season 8, Ace of Cakes launched a new promotion concept involving a deck of Las Vegas-style playing cards.[7]
Ace of Cakes has been a very large success with fans and critics alike. The show has brought Food Network some of the highest ratings it has ever received for a prime-time program.[4][8] Ace of Cakes is also broadcast in the United Kingdom on Good Food, in México and Latin America on FOXlife, in New Zealand on the Food Channel, in Australia on LifeStyle Food, and in Portugal on SIC Mulher.
On November 19, 2010, Food Network announced that the 10th season of Ace of Cakes would be its last. Season 10 began airing in January 2011, ending shortly thereafter in February.[9]
References
- ^ Unnatural History Cancelled, Ace of Cakes Cancelled
- ^ cNASA has its Hubble cake, can't eat it too
- ^ LOST in Hawaii : Ace of Cakes : Food Network
- ^ a b Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 26, 2007
- ^ http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2010/10/back-to-the-future-reunion/#12 Charm City Cakes Bakes Back To The Future Delorean Cake For Movies' 25th Anniversary
- ^ variety.com — Accessed December 22, 2009
- ^ Click 3X Blog
- ^ Boston Globe, October 18, 2006
- ^ MSNBC, November 19, 2010
External links
- 2000s American television series
- 2006 American television series debuts
- 2010s American television series
- 2011 American television series endings
- American reality television series
- English-language television programming
- Food Network series
- Food reality television series
- Media about cakes
- Television series by Authentic Entertainment
- Television shows set in Baltimore, Maryland