Duff has been cooking since the age of 4, when his mom caught him in the kitchen swinging a meat cleaver while watching Chef Tell on TV. While in second grade, he came close to cutting off his pinkie while carving a pumpkin, and knew he was destined to work in the kitchen. Duff started working professionally when he was 14 at a bagel shop, where he was almost fired for making the sandwiches too big. Ever since then, he’s been putting his own crazy spin on food. After graduating from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with degrees in history and philosophy, Duff went on to study at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, Calif. 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, Duff quit his day job and opened Charm City Cakes. There, he was able to show off his creativity, which comes from a long line of artistic genes. The bakery became a household name on the hit Food Network show Ace of Cakes, which aired for 10 seasons. Duff is also a graffiti artist, a metal sculptor and a musician who plays bass in the Elvis tribute band Danger Ace and the indie band Sand Ox. More recently, Duff and his team opened a second bakery location, Charm City Cakes West in Los Angeles. Fans of Duff can find him on Food Network's new series Worst Bakers in America. He is also a judge on Holiday Baking Championship and Spring Baking Championship. And with Valerie Bertinelli, he hosts and judges Kids Baking Championship.

Filmography

• The Ultimate Baking Championship — Head Judge
• 2022A Gingerbread Christmas — Mark Clemmons
• Buddy vs. Duff Holiday
• Halloween Cake-Off — Host
• The Masked Singer — Self, McTerrier (archive footage)
• 2016Kids Halloween Baking Championship — Director
• Worst Bakers in America — Host
• Holiday Baking Championship — Self/Judge
• Home & Family
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — Baker Droid (voice)
• Ace of Cakes
• Rachael Ray
• American Dad! — Duff Goldman (voice)
• King of the Hill — Duff Goldman (voice)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Appearances as themselves (28)

• Baking Championship: Next Gen — Self - Host
• Super Mega Cakes — Self
• Summer Baking Championship — Self - Judge
• The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown — Self - Host
• Alex vs America — Self - Guest Judge
• Bake It 'Til You Make It — Self
• Duff: Ace of Taste — Self - Host
• Phoning It In — Self - Judge
• Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time — Himself
• Buddy vs. Duff — Self
• Ryan's Mystery Playdate — Self - Baker
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self - Guest
• Double Dare — Self - Contestant
• Steve — Self
• Without A Recipe — Self - Judge
• 2016All-Star Halloween Spectacular — Self - Host
• 2015Christmas Cookie Challenge — Himself - Judge
• Kids Baking Championship — Self - Host
• Spring Baking Championship — Self - Judge
• Beat Bobby Flay — Self
• Steve Harvey — Self
• 2011Bob Ross: The Happy Painter — Self
• Ridiculousness — Self
• The Talk — Self - Guest
• The Best Thing I Ever Ate — Self
• Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives — Self
• Iron Chef America — Self
• The View — Self, Self - Guest