Duff Goldman

Jeffrey Adam "Duff" Goldman, born December 17, 1974, is an American pastry chef, television personality, businessman, and writer. He is best known as the executive chef of the Baltimore bakery Charm City Cakes, which was featured on the Food Network reality television series Ace of Cakes. He also serves as executive chef of Charm City Cakes West in Los Angeles, featured on the Food Network series Duff Till Dawn and Cake Masters.

Goldman was born to a Jewish family in Detroit, Michigan. He received his nickname as a baby when his toddler brother, Willie, mispronounced his name as Duffy. After his parents divorced when he was ten, he lived in Northern Virginia and Sandwich, Massachusetts. Goldman began working in food service at age fourteen at a mall bagel store and later as a fry cook at McDonald's. He attended McLean High School, where he played ice hockey, and graduated from Sandwich High School in 1993.

He earned a bachelor's degree in East Asian History with a minor in Ethics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). While at UMBC, he secured a job making biscuits and cornbread at the restaurant Charleston under head chef Cindy Wolf, an experience he considers the turning point of his career. Goldman subsequently studied at the Corcoran College of Art and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley, California.

Early in his career, Goldman worked under chefs in California, completed a stagiaire position at the French Laundry, served as executive pastry chef at the Vail Cascade Hotel in Colorado, and baked bread at Olives in Washington, D.C. In 2002, he established Charm City Cakes in Baltimore. Starting out of his home, he eventually expanded the business by hiring sculptors, architects, and painters, utilizing power tools and blow torches to construct complex structural cake supports.

Goldman has crafted custom cakes for former President Barack Obama's 2013 inaugural ball, novelist Tom Clancy, actor Sir Roger Moore, singer Katy Perry, and the casts of Lost and 30 Rock. His television work includes appearances on Food Network Challenge, Iron Chef America, Buddy vs. Duff, Duff Takes the Cake, and Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time. He also serves as a judge on shows such as Holiday Baking Championship, Spring Baking Championship, and Kids Baking Championship, co-hosting the latter for thirteen seasons. In 2022, he appeared on season seven of The Masked Singer as McTerrier.

Goldman lives in Los Angeles, California. Outside of baking, he has played bass guitar in the bands ...soihadto... and Foigrock. He places strong personal emphasis on his Jewish identity and tzedakah. Goldman married Johnna Colbry in January 2019, and the couple has a daughter born in January 2021 and a son born in March 2026.