The Sweet Reason Duff Goldman Started Happy Fun Bake Time
Food Network star Duff Goldman is known to make the best of amateur bakers' less-than-perfect performances in the kitchen. "You can totally do this!" he posted recently to his @duffgoldman Instagram, encouraging us to rewire our "find a bakery near me" mentality and instead try our hand at his Santa DIY cake kit, sold through his flagship Baltimore bakery, Charm City Cakes. He promised that if we mess it up, we're not headed for the naughty list.
Goldman brings that same charming, we're-in-this-together sentiment to his kid-focused baking show, "Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time", streaming now on Discovery+. It's six episodes that Goldman hopes parents will not just tolerate for their kids but will want to watch for their own enjoyment as well, according to Popsugar.
The show features Goldman's professional prowess in the kitchen, some great dessert recipes, and the message that you needn't focus on perfection when it comes to food. And because it's a kid-focused program, puppets also play a starring role. Everything from unicorns to aliens, the show really goes for it in terms of fantasy and stretching the imagination. If that sounds too wacky for the adults in the room, keep in mind this show, like the rest of Goldman's winning Food Network shows, has high production value and comes to the table (literally) with only the best in terms of an ensemble cast. The puppets hail from none other than the team at Jim Henson's Creature Shop. And that's only the beginning.
The science of food, kid-style
The point of the show is to tackle food science. Wondering what might happen if you make a cake without eggs, for instance? This is the kind of show that handles such mysteries. The episodes delve into things like different cooking techniques and the science behind why we use them as well as different iterations of food around the world — like episode five's peek at variations of ice cream across the globe.
Commonsense Media compliments Goldman on explaining the otherwise tough-to-understand topic of food science in a way that kids can get without talking down to anybody. He also skillfully manages puppets who are rich with personality, from the oven dragon that is named, well, Dragon Oven, to a Chesapeake Bay blue crab named Edgar, which we can assume is a nod to Duff's other true love outside of baking: hunting Maryland blue crabs. Food Network writes that their baking legend calls crabbing the "best waste of time," but loves it thanks to the way it brings him together with a bunch of great friends.
That is the exact vibe he brings to the show. "Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time" hinges on the theme that food is interesting, exciting even, and connects us to one another, even to places far away. While the recipes are ornate, they're meant more for a certain inspiration — that the kitchen is a place for good friends to be adventurous, not perfect.