Six Pastry Tips From 'Ace of Cakes' Duff Goldman

Duff Goldman doesn't just take the cake. He uses power and pastry tools and more than a little ingenuity to sculpt and shape said cake into a work of art, resembling everything from a vintage roller skate to a giant blue crab.

But what advice does he have for the beginning baker?

We caught up with the 33-year-old Goldman, the soul patch-sporting graffiti artist-turned-master cake decorator who's the star of the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes," a few weeks ago at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Miami Beach to hear what he might have to say.

Plenty, it turns out. ...