Charm City Cakes

It turns out Mary Alice Yeskey of Charm City Cakes is a big "musical theater nerd. " The "Ace of Cakes" star had stars in her eyes on Thursday when she presented the company of "Wicked" with an "Ozmopolitan" cake before Thursday night's performance at the Hippodrome.  The three-level green and purple cake combined imagery from the popular stage musical with iconic Baltimore images like the Domino Sugar sign. (Check out the Hippodrome marquee atop the second tier.) It turns out that the company of '"Wicked" are big Mary Alice fans.

There is only one official cake for President Obama's inaugural ball and it's coming from Baltimore's own Charm City Cakes. The bakery announced Friday morning that Duff Goldman was commissioned to make the cake for the Commander-in-Chief's Ball, the most important of the post-inaugural parties and one of just two Obama is expected to attend. The ball's theme is honoring active duty and reserve service members, wounded warriors and Medal Of Honor recipients. "We are thrilled to be creating the cake for such an historical event," Goldman said in a statement.

Veterans Day is a red-letter day on a few restaurant calendars.  Mission BBQ will observe Veterans Day on Monday with a "Freedom isn't Free" event. The Glen Burnie restaurant, which has announced the opening of a second location in Perry Hall , will offer a complimentary sandwich "to all those who have honorably served in our Nation's military and armed forces. " Charm City Cakes, the Baltimore bakery home to Food Network star Duff Goldman , has created an Iwo Jima cake for the event that replicates the iconic Joe Rosenthal photograph of U.S. Marines raising the flag on top of Mount Suribachi, immortalizing the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II .  The cake-cutting will take place following the singing of the National Anthem at noon.

Veterans Day is a red-letter day on a few restaurant calendars.  Mission BBQ will observe Veterans Day on Monday with a "Freedom isn't Free" event. The Glen Burnie restaurant, which has announced the opening of a second location in Perry Hall , will offer a complimentary sandwich "to all those who have honorably served in our Nation's military and armed forces. " Charm City Cakes, the Baltimore bakery home to Food Network star Duff Goldman , has created an Iwo Jima cake for the event that replicates the iconic Joe Rosenthal photograph of U.S. Marines raising the flag on top of Mount Suribachi, immortalizing the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II .  The cake-cutting will take place following the singing of the National Anthem at noon.

Charm City Cakes made this special-effects Hogwarts cake for the party following Monday night's New York premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" The party was held at the American Museum of Natural History following the invite-only screening at Avery Fisher Hall. It lit up real good!

Now you can bake like Duff Goldman and the gang at Charm City Cakes. A new line of cake decorating products has just been released by Gartner Studios, a Minneapolis-based stationery company. Duff Essentials include cake mixes, decorating kits, pans and tools. Decorate With Duff includes sprinkles, decorating tools and cake "tattoos" and "graffiti. " And Duff Fondant includes everything you need to make your own extravaganzas. You can see the new Duff products here and here on the Charm City Cakes website.

Duff Goldman, the rock 'n' roll chef of Charm City Cakes , wants to set the record straight about the announcement last week that "Ace of Cakes" will be ending its long run on the Food Network early next year. "People say to me, like, 'Oh, man, I hear you got canceled. I feel sorry for you.' And I'm, like, 'No, not really. I'm actually going to have time to make a lot more money,'" he says laughing. "Don't anybody feel sorry for me. " The 35-year-old rock musician, pastry chef and entrepreneur who rose to reality-TV fame almost overnight when "Ace of Cakes" debuted 41/2 years ago, says he has three new TV shows in development, and one of them involves him moving to Los Angeles in February to open a West Coast version of Charm City Cakes in June.

Mission BBQ really is serious about its commitment to honoring America's men and women in uniform. On Friday, while supplies last, veterans will be treated to a sandwich and slice of cake at Mission BBQ in Glen Burnie, and not just any cake but one Charm City Cakes is making for the occasion, modeled after Bam Bam, the restaurant's signature "Mission Mobile" - a retrofitted Army truck, complete with its own grill and smoker, Mission BBQ...

Mary Alice Yeskey of Charm City Cakes is one of the 100 people we asked what they love about Baltimore. Turned out a lot of people love to eat and drink. You can read them all in the July 24 Sun Magazine, or look at the online photo gallery right now. Take a look at the food, drinks and restaurants that Baltolebrities people told us they love. And find out what chefs like Cindy Wolf, John Shields and Bryan Voltaggio enjoy about Baltimore when they're not making food for everybody else.

"Ace of Cakes" fans who are disappointed about the TV reality show's cancellation can take heart in knowing that star baker Duff Goldman is expanding a recently launched line of baking and decorating products. Just days after the Food Network confirmed it had canceled the show, which followed the exploits of the Charm City Cakes owner and his staff, specialty retailer Party City announced it would sell the Duff Goldman Collection. Goldman, whose bakery is in Remington, launched the line in June at Michaels craft stores, selling mixes, spatulas, pans, edible cake graffiti spray and fondant in nine colors.

It turns out Mary Alice Yeskey of Charm City Cakes is a big "musical theater nerd. " The "Ace of Cakes" star had stars in her eyes on Thursday when she presented the company of "Wicked" with an "Ozmopolitan" cake before Thursday night's performance at the Hippodrome.  The three-level green and purple cake combined imagery from the popular stage musical with iconic Baltimore images like the Domino Sugar sign. (Check out the Hippodrome marquee atop the second tier.) It turns out that the company of '"Wicked" are big Mary Alice fans.

"You know when you see John Ellsberry's painted alligator at the end of the 28th Street Bridge that you're in Remington," said Kathleen C. Ambrose, who is researching and writing a history of the more than 200-year-old Baltimore neighborhood that she hopes to have published next year. She has been banging on doors, interviewing old-timers and, in a recent edition of the Remington Community Newsletter asked residents to search their closets and attics for any photographs from 1930 to 2000 that she might use for her book.

Now you can bake like Duff Goldman and the gang at Charm City Cakes. A new line of cake decorating products has just been released by Gartner Studios, a Minneapolis-based stationery company. Duff Essentials include cake mixes, decorating kits, pans and tools. Decorate With Duff includes sprinkles, decorating tools and cake "tattoos" and "graffiti. " And Duff Fondant includes everything you need to make your own extravaganzas. You can see the new Duff products here and here on the Charm City Cakes website.

If you know someone whose baked goodies are always a hit, encourage them to keep up the hobby with these kitchen accessories. 1. Jazz up your creations with edible cake glitter ($8), "graffiti" spray paint ($4.50) and even "tattoos" (elegant and wild animal skin varieties, $8) for baked goods. Designed by Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes through Gartner Studios. His line is available at Michaels stores, in Columbia, Ellicott City and Towson, and at duff.com . 2. Accurate measurements are a must!

Mission BBQ really is serious about its commitment to honoring America's men and women in uniform. On Friday, while supplies last, veterans will be treated to a sandwich and slice of cake at Mission BBQ in Glen Burnie, and not just any cake but one Charm City Cakes is making for the occasion, modeled after Bam Bam, the restaurant's signature "Mission Mobile" - a retrofitted Army truck, complete with its own grill and smoker, Mission BBQ...

Mary Alice Yeskey of Charm City Cakes is one of the 100 people we asked what they love about Baltimore. Turned out a lot of people love to eat and drink. You can read them all in the July 24 Sun Magazine, or look at the online photo gallery right now. Take a look at the food, drinks and restaurants that Baltolebrities people told us they love. And find out what chefs like Cindy Wolf, John Shields and Bryan Voltaggio enjoy about Baltimore when they're not making food for everybody else.

It probably won't surprise Duff Goldman's many fans that a power drill will make an appearance next weekend when the master cake baker takes on Michael Symon in "Iron Chef America." After all, blow torches, grinders and other tools that go vroom are routinely used in Goldman's shop, Charm City Cakes, to build the structures of elaborate pastries that have included an anatomically correct model of an ear and a smoking volcano. But, when the new episode of "Iron Chef" airs Saturday and Sunday, viewers will see Goldman use the drill in a manner that blazes a new path, even for him. And that's as specific as he's going to be for now. "Let's just say that it was a new technique that I'd never tried before, and that the drill did exactly what I wanted it to do," Goldman says over the phone from Chicago, where he's touring with his indie rock band, soihadto (so I had to)

LINDA BIGGS IS A BALTIMORE native and fantasy artist whose works are collected around the globe. After a long career in advertising and corporate commercial printing, she retired and began her new life as a full-time fine artist in 1999. Many of her vibrant watercolor images of fairies are licensed and re-created in a variety of products. Biggs lives in Parkton, with her husband and two children. 1 A restored 1979 Jeep CJ-5 "With free gas would be even better." 2 Vinyl art dolls "It would be so cool to have trendy fashion dolls made in the image of my fantasy characters."

Charm City Cakes made this special-effects Hogwarts cake for the party following Monday night's New York premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" The party was held at the American Museum of Natural History following the invite-only screening at Avery Fisher Hall. It lit up real good!

Baltimore's Duff Goldman, TV's Ace of Cakes, will be back on the Food network in a new show starting Aug. 8. Goldman hinted at the show in a Sun magazine profile I did in January, and I am glad to see he has pulled it off and made the network schedule. It features him traveling the country searching out the best desserts. Here's the Food network release: Duff Goldman made famous by Ace of Cakes, has a knack for satisfying America’s sugary curiosity. In his new series, Sugar High, premiering Monday, August 8th at 10:30pm ET/PT, Duff takes a cross-country trek to capture the sweet secrets and tasty techniques that keep the cookies from crumbling in the top dessert destinations around the country.