After his young start at cooking with a meat cleaver and a television show, Duff studied under Chef Cindy Wolf in Baltimore. He later left Baltimore to study pastries at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley. While in California, Duff worked under Chef Steven Durfee, a widely known pastry chef. After graduating from the CIA, Duff moved to Vail, Colorado to become the Executive Pastry Chef at the Cascade Hotel and Resort. In 2000, Duff returned to Baltimore to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. 2002 saw the opening of Charm City Cakes.