How come nobody ever talks about the taste of a Charm City cake? Are they made to be eaten?

Mike, I have never (knowingly) eaten a Charm City cake, but would you really want to eat that fondant after people have been handling it to make cake art?

They are dry, oversweet and unreal. I am horrified, as happy eater James Beard would have been, that this organization is considering an award

I personally think that Rodney Henry has more personality and better tasting (even edible) baked goods AND more talent in his pinky finger than Duff can even ever dream of having as a musician. Just sayin'...

How awful a show is Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern? The premise is basically watch some doofus eat funny foods with foreigners.

I understand the concept of being a stranger in strange land with strange food, but I think it works best when the stranger has a degree of intellect and awareness.

I agree with both comments. Cakes look great but how do they taste? And all that handling with bare hands? Would you eat regular food if people put their hands all over it? Why don't they wear gloves?

I had it once at some event at Pazo. It was ok...not memorable. The cake was sorta dry, like they baked it with margarine and not butter. You pay for the art, not the cake.

Delicious! Try them for yourself across the street from Charm City Cakes at The Diz! If you watch the show, you will hear the fondant really just is for the decoration, the fondant keeps the cake inside fresh and moist....and beautiful! Each cake is frosted with buttercream before being fondant-ed. The buttercream is what you actually eat with the cake. Check it out.

And once again no finalists from Baltimore for restaurant categories. Is our area becoming a dining backwater again? Or should we ignore the James Beard awards as just another PR/politically influenced popularity contest?

I had a charm city cake at a wedding this summer. The Mother-of-the-Bride came around to all the tables and made sure we got up to see the cake (I guess because it was so expensive) I wasn't a VIP guest so I definitely ate Duff sheet cake. My wife liked it, but she was the only one. I thought the cake was average, a little on the dry/bland side like a grocery store cake. The icing was what really dissapointed me. I thought it was very bland and tasteless, not at all sweet and everyone agreed it left a shortening after-taste. I wanted to like his cake, I really did.

I had a charm city cake at a wedding this summer. The Mother-of-the-Bride came around to all the tables and made sure we got up to see the cake (I guess because it was so expensive) I wasn't a VIP guest so I definitely ate Duff sheet cake. My wife liked it, but she was the only one. I thought the cake was average, a little on the dry/bland side like a grocery store cake. The icing was what really disappointed me. I thought it was very bland and tasteless, not at all sweet and everyone agreed it left a shortening after-taste. I wanted to like his cake, I really did.

I'm rooting for Duff bescause I really like to watch Ace of Cakes!

Nominated for a beard award? I thought he only had a goatee?

The fondant was like a hardened, colored and flat marshmallow with extra sugar.

But, that cake was good. The one I had was the spiced (rum?) flavor

It was not living-up-to-the-hype good, but still pretty damn good.

I doubt I'll ever eat one again due the wait list, the astronomical prices, and most of my friends have gotten married.

However, knowing my friends the way I do, there could be a round II in the wedding games in the not-so-distant future.

Always the optimist, I be.

@ss
zink!

I love you, too, Baltimore.

I love how most people don't know how fondant is consumed - you CAN eat it, but it's more for the preservation of the cake underneath. Oddly enough, living in this city, I've had the opportunity to try their cakes twice, and both times, the cake and buttercream underneath the fondant was delicious.