Who is Holiday Baking Championship judge Duff Goldman? Details explored

Holiday Baking Championship season 12 is set to air exclusively on Food Network on November 3. Duff Goldman will return as one of the judges on the show.

Goldman, a popular pastry chef, television personality and writer, has been featured on several shows on the Food Network. He is the executive chef of the Baltimore-based Charm City Cakes shop and has been featured in the reality television show Ace of Cakes.

Goldman featured in the baking show, Super Mega Cakes, where the Charm City Cakes head and his crew, along with Geof Manthorne, face off with six teams of popular cake artists over the duration of four days. The show premiered on the Food Network earlier this year.  

Goldman is known for his baking expertise, as he is credited with creating cakes for former U.S. President Barack Obama during his second inaugural ball in 2013. He has baked cakes for several renowned celebrities, including Sir Roger Moore, Kate Perry and Tom Clancy. 

Holiday Baking Championship judge Duff Goldman reveals his former profession

The Holiday Baking Championship judge, Duff Goldman, was not always into baking; he initially started as a graffiti artist. While the Food Network star never planned to open his own cake shop, he started baking cakes in his apartment only to pay the bills as he aspired to be a rock star.

In an interview with Milk Street, Goldman revealed all about his former career as a graffiti artist. He said,

“There was a yard in Braintree, Massachusetts—I grew up on Cape Cod in Sandwich—so we'd go up to Braintree, break in and paint trains, and hopefully be able to leave by the same hole in the fence that we made, because if you're leaving any other way, that means you're in the back of the cop car and that s***s. Well, sometime they give you a choice. You can either get arrested or—this happened one time and I'll never do it again but—you can empty out all the paint that you have onto yourself, including your face and your hair and everything."

Duff Goldman talks about his all-time favourite dessert 

In an interview with Eating Well, the popular Food Network star revealed that his all-time favourite dessert is ice cream. While opening up about his favourite dessert, which is a classic, he said,

“There’s an endless variety of ice cream. There’s so much you can do with it, there are so many different kinds. Cold, smooth, creamy and sweet—it just doesn’t get better than ice cream. I like stuff in my ice cream, so rocky road or Ben and Jerry’s. I also like crunch, and I like cones with my ice cream, even if it’s not in a cone. If I get it in a bowl, I put a cone on top so I can smash it up.”

Goldman added that one can also tell a lot about a pastry chef “by the ice cream they make.”

Holiday Baking Championship premieres on November 3 exclusively on Food Network. Stay tuned for more updates.