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. In the six-episode premiere season Duff visits a bevy of sweet spots from diners and snow cone machines to food carts and boutique bakeries, getting a full view of what it takes to sweeten up any soiree. His stops include Los Angeles, Dallas, New Orleans, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia where in each city he brings his expertise and personality to his search to find the nation's best baked goods.
"As a staple Food Network icon, Duff has developed a loyal following and this new show gives him an avenue to showcase a different side of his personality while celebrating the food category he loves and the people who create it," said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Programming & Production, Food Network.
Throughout the season Duff highlights desserts that are anything but ordinary from chilled bread pudding on the Venice boardwalk in California and tableside s'mores in Dallas, to Sno Ballz from the first-ever, shaved-ice machine in New Orleans and a slice of apple strudel in Chicago. Duff also satisfies his sweet tooth with lemon ginger mousse at a hip Asian diner in Boston and traditional rice pudding at a dessert boutique in Philadelphia.
Duff has been cooking since the age of four and started working professionally at a bagel shop in a mall when he was 14, and since then, Duff's been putting his own crazy spin on food. After graduating from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with degrees in History and Philosophy, he went on to study at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, California. He worked at several acclaimed culinary destinations, including the French Laundry, the Vail Cascade Hotel, and Todd English's Olives before returning to Baltimore in 2000 to become a personal chef. In March 2002, he opened Charm City Cakes where he was able to show off his creativity, and the bakery became a household name on Ace of Cakes, which aired for ten seasons on Food Network. Most recently, Duff and his team headed to Los Angeles to open a second location of the bakery, Charm City Cakes West, which is scheduled to open in August.