Hale Kilinahe: Pith of Pop: Ace of Cakes

Duff is a supremely talented cake artist who has dabbled in metalworking, among other things. He has a keen eye and a smart style. I've watched him on countless chef-challenge-competition-type things on the Food Network, and he's the first person who challenged my notion that cake decorating was for squares.

Duff owns his own shop in Baltimore, and that's where his new show takes place. The image I had of Duff was not far off, from what I can tell: he's goofy, funny, and childlike. He makes a great TV personality.

He's also a loyal friend, it seems, which led him to hire many of his old college buddies. Unfortunately, none of them are as...colorful as Duff. There's Geof, who is that guy who sat in the back of your English Lit class. He had a messenger bag and might have worn big headphones and scribbled in a steno pad. He's exactly what you'd expect from someone who looks like him. Mary Alice is kind of stern but a little quirky. She looks like someone who would date Geof. Duff also has three lookalike assistants, the names of whom a can never keep straight.

We see a lot of Duff and his employees, but not quite enough of the cake-making process. When they started running promos for this show, I was imagining a kind of a how-to show. I wanted to know all the tricks and secrets of cake decorating and become as cool as Duff. As it is, though, Ace of Cakes is a typical reality show, created for the sake of having a reality show.

Still, Duff is so much fun. My favorite episode revolves around Duff, a kilt, and a particularly difficult cake.