Second Time Is A "Charm"!

Part 2 of 2 - Our meeting with Chef Duff and Charm City Cakes

The two large wooden doors closed behind us and there was a moment when we all paused…reflected internally on what had just happened…then, we – under the watchful eye of the Charm City Cakes video surveillance camera, I am sure! – exploded. We had done such a good job at remaining professional and composed for an hour and a half while we met with Chef Duff. Not able to physically contain ourselves any longer, we, on the street corner there in front of the bakery, jumped up and down, hugged each other and screamed. We had just completed Part 1 of a very successful cake conceptualizing meeting at Charm City Cakes in Baltimore.

One of my colleagues from the marketing agency, clutched a small white bakery box, with the Charm City Cakes sticker on the top, close to her chest. Outside was written her name and the flavor samples of cakes that were contained inside. Inside thebox were six small cake samples, each a different flavor. The chosen flavor would be the flavor of the final cake. The samples included Mint Chip, S’more, Chocolate Peanut Butter, White, Chocolate, and Marble.

We hustled over to Dizz’s where we sat at a table, placed a small order for nosh (potato skins and sweet potato fries), then proceeded to dive in to the sample box. Two minutes later….only crumbs remained.

After careful consideration and much discussion, we opted for the Marble flavor. Mint Chip, S’more, and Peanut Butter –while very good – might overwhelm the flavor of ice cream that we will be serving along with the cake on September 22. White and Chocolate were both delicious – probably the best chocolate flavor I have ever tasted – but a little bit of a yawner as a stand alone. We chose Marble because it combined two traditional and very tasty flavors into one interesting cake flavor that will be fun to look at.

As we ate, we must have checked our watches a thousand times and shook our heads in disbelief, “Can you believe we met the Charm City Cakes crew today?”

“Can you believe we were invited back?”

“Wasn’t Duff so incredible??”

When we felt we had allocated enough time for Chef Duff’s 3 o’clock meeting, we hustled back over to Charm City Cakes. Time for our second meeting.

Again….the intercom. Again…..the exchange. Again…those ominous-looking doors opened. This time when they did, we were welcomed with recognition and enthusiasm. Chef Duff and his gang…glad to see us? Wow…that is pretty cool!

Mary Alice helped us to fetch our ice cream and we spread our containers of ice cream and ice cream toppings out on the conference table where we had met just one hour earlier.

The artists of Charm City Cakes flocked to the table where we filled their Blue Bunny® color-changing bowls (they change from white bowls to bright blue when you add cold ice cream!!) with heaping scoops of Blue Bunny® Bunny Tracks, Blue Bunny® Mint Chip, Blue Bunny® Homemade Chocolate, and Blue Bunny® Neapolitan (Duff took that one!) ice cream. We gave them a few mementos to commemorate our visit, we chatted with the group and ironed out plans for our September event in Manhattan for our promotion’s party (not sure what the promotion is? Check it out here). I also made lots of small talk with Chef Duff about his show, his band, and the possibility of him visiting us here in the Ice Cream Capital of the World® and some fun ideas he has for ice cream flavors, if we were ever interested in considering them.

An hour later, we bade our farewells to our new friends at Charm City Cakes, feeling fabulous about our day. Cake and Blue Bunny ice cream….what can top that?

This can…..just yesterday we discovered that Charm City Cakes blogged about our visit, too. Check it out here: http://www.charmcitycakes.com/blog It was the cherry on top of one delicious experience.

Ahh, life can be so sweet.

Until next time, I remain…1SweetMama

....I Think I Heard Angels Singing....

(Chef Duff Goldman at work)

…and there we were……

After a day of travel to Baltimore and a breakfast planning meeting and a trip to the local Harris Teeter store to buy all the Blue Bunny® ice cream and toppings fit for a good ‘ol fashioned ice cream social we found ourselves standing at the threshold of all that is good and sweet and oh, so right. A world of cakes and fondant and creative artists and bakers….and Chef Duff Goldman, himself.

We grinned stupidly at each other – none of us believing that we were actually at Charm City Cakes’ front door. A plain, grey-ish stone building with two giant citadel-like wooden doors that no one could breach, no matter how strong their sugar craving.

I rang the intercom bell:

Voice: “Hello?”
Me: “Blue Bunny ice cream team is here!”
Voice: “Okay….just a moment.”

We exchanged glances…giddy as schoolgirls.

The doors opened. I swear I think I heard angels singing.

There it was. The interior of the bakery. In all of it’s crazy pop-art colors and decorations, the crew busily building fondant cake “wraps” (not sure this is the technical term, but they sculpt the designs on cake molds and then wrap it onto a cake once it is baked, later in the week) and applying some of the most beautiful and intricate artwork I have ever seen. “Dummy cakes” – not real cakes but fake cakes built for display only of some of their finest works rimmed the conference table area. The most intriguing “dummy cake” was a bust of Marie Antoinette with her throat slit, blood oozing from the incision. Chef Duff explained that while it was really interesting, it was very macabre. It took our whip-smart intern to exclaim, “How interesting, since she was the one who said, ‘Let them eat cake!’” Duff stopped and looked at her, incredulous and flattered at her insight…. "You see?” he said softly, “No one gets that!”

Chef Duff was a gentle, crazy, awe-inspiring genius that gracefully led our team (five of us, in all) through the creative process to design a cake concept that would include lights and dry ice smoke. Unbelievable. His mind just floated from our concepts (which we thought were good in the first place) to something a little more intriguing and unique. At one point during the meeting, I turned to him and said, “Is there anything you have always wanted to do for a cake but never have?”

His eyes danced and he leaned back in his chair for a moment to reflect. The Willy Wonka of cake-making, a story-telling, good-hearted, soft-spoken, yet creatively outgoing master of his art leaned forward and took a pencil in hand and sketched. We talked. He talked. We watched him work. Dream. We collaborated and finally ended up with a cake that will be an amazement to all who attend the event in which it will be unveiled.

He wrote up the contract. Quoted us a price. Ouch (but worth it). We signed it. Paid our deposit. He proceeded to present us with some samples of cake flavors we had requested for our cake and he wanted to visit more. At the two-hour mark, Mary Alice (oh, how we lover her, too!) reminded Duff that he needed to “shut up” (Duff’s words, not mine) and get ready for a three o’clock appointment they had.

But the ice cream social had not yet occurred.

Chef Duff told us to go across the street to “Dizz’s” restaurant (oh….yummmy place to eat) and come back in about 45 minutes.

Invited back? Us? To Charm City Cakes?

Find out how the rest of the visit went in Friday’s blog post. But until then, I remain….1SweetMama

How Sweet It Is!

(One of the Charm City Cakes creations "Nightmare"...see this and many others on the Charm City Cakes website http://www.charmcitycakes.com/)

There are times when I love my job and there are times when I love LOVE my job. This is one of those times…..

I often tell folks about how there may be six basic food groups to most people, but, to me, there are eight: Grains, Fruit, Vegetable, Dairy, Meats/Poultry/Fish/Nuts, Oil, Dairy, chips and salsa, and birthday cake. It is very important that you include items from each of these food groups every day in order to manage a well-balanced diet.

Well, I am thrilled to report that next week, I get to weigh a little heavy on the birthday cake portion of that food pyramid. In fact, I have been training intensively for my trip to the center of the universe for birthday cake: Charm City Cakes to meet the Wizard Himself (note the capitalization of his title…like “His Holiness” or “Her Majesty”), The Ace of Cakes, Chef Duff Goldman. As a big fan of his Food Network Show (Ace of Cakes)….and a fan of cake itself…I can barely believe that my feet will trod upon the hallowed grounds of Duff-dom and his merry minions. To be in the very presence of all that cake and frosting and fondant icing…..I can barely find the words to articulate my excitement.

My training this week has simply been to hone my body’s tolerance of sugar, tame my willpower so that I will not be tempted to dive, head-first, into vats of cake batter and/or frosting, and to practice my skills at dialing down my desire to act like a Duff fanatic. Always, the professional, I have had to increase my exposure to cake and frosting and the show so that I can resist the urge to overindulge with both my emotions and my sweet tooth.

The purpose of this visit is to conceptualize a cake that we (Blue Bunny) are commissioning with Charm City Cakes for a customer promotion we are doing with A&P in the Northeast. For complete contest details and rules, visit the promotion website at http://www.chefduffpromotion.com/ .

This trip will mark my journey to Mecca. The motherland. The tip of the frosted layer-cake of confectionary art and design. The gastro-trip-the-light-fantastic adventure to the ONLY place to go if “birthday cake” exists as a piece of your food pyramid.

Look out Charm City! Here comes 1SweetMama and HER gang of merry minions. We look forward to a very sweet collaboration.

For my fellow readers….you an expect a full report on Tuesday morning.

Until then, I remain a sugar buzzed 1SweetMama.