Six Pastry Tips From 'Ace of Cakes' Duff Goldman

Other important decorating substances: gum paste (great for making flowers), modeling chocolate ("it's basically a Tootsie Roll") and pastillage (a sugar-based dough).

Duff-ism No. 3: Be the Bride

Want to see some of the best cake designs? Look no further than bridal magazines, Goldman advises, since wedding cakes are considered the ultimate expression of the art. Bridal Web sites -- his Charm City site links to a few -- are another good source.

	Roller Skate Cake

Duff-ism No. 4: Copy Away

Goldman has no problem with beginners -- or even advanced -- cake makers patterning their designs after icons or famous works or art. (Or for that matter, cakes made by other cake designers, including Goldman himself.)

"Good art is borrowed, great art is stolen," Goldman says.

The idea isn't necessarily to become a pastry plagiarist. Rather, it's to figure out "how you do this kind of thing," Goldman explains. "Then, you make it on your own," he adds.

Duff-ism No. 5: Don't Forget About Taste

As tempting as it is to think of intricately designed cakes as showpieces rather than dessert, Goldman insists that "they've got to taste awesome." (He admits it's an idea that's hard to get across on the TV show: "What are you going to do? Lick the TV screen?")

A mix of all-purpose (75%) and pastry (25%) flour usually yields the right texture for your cakes, Goldman says.

Chocolate cakes have the added advantage of being a little more firm, which is good if your end product is going to be very sculptural. But white cake is fine, so long as it's not sponge cake, which is way too light.

Goldman also likes to try different flavorings -- pumpkin is a particular favorite.

"It is so moist," he says.

Duff-ism No. 6: If At First You Don't Succeed...

Goldman notes that his formal training in cake design consisted of two weeks worth of lessons in culinary school. The rest all came from trial and error.

"We just tried stuff out...You've got to experiment," he says, referring to everything from the basic cake recipe to the decorating. The possibilities of what you can achieve are endless, so long as you're willing to fail the first (or 50th) time around and try, try again.

Beginners "really can do it like me," Goldman concludes.

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