The "Other" Cakes & Roland Meisner

Here are some of the entries from the Ametuer and Semi-professional level cakes. Many of these cakes were just as good if not better than some of the cakes in the professional level. I didn't take pictures of them because I didn't want to waste my space, but some of the cakes were pretty sad.

My sister asked me to make a baby shower cake for December, I wonder how she will like this one? I thought it was really cute. They even made it look like there were diapers in the bag.

A frog prince

Pink and chocolate, one of my favorite color combos

This one was modeled after an Opera House, every side had little opera singers on it.

Check out this Yoda, he had to have been about 4 feet tall. The best part about these cakes was the little informative pictures that showed how they were made.

You can see the pictures next to Happy Feet penguin. Mambo.

Homer was maybe 18-24" tall.

This gingerbread house was so fun to look, it was so detailed and just perfect.

I really have a ton more photos of cakes, but I really want to move on to Roland Meisner. The first day he demonstrated we did not stay to watch because he spent the first part of his time literally screaming about the evils of Isomalt- a synthetic sugar that is resistent to humidity and easier to work with. After seeing the rose he made, I wish we had stuck it out! We did watch him make the orchid and it was unbelieveable to watch him work with the sugar. He just grabbed with his hands like it was Play Doh. And he was so funny! He had the best stories about working at the White House. He was selling 2 books and I went over to buy one after listening to his stories, but when I saw the book they had left I changed my mind. It didn't have very many pictures and it was just all recipes. I wish he would write a book where he shares his stories and photos of desserts he made at the White House.

Since he hasn't written that book, I'll share some of his stories. He was Executive Chef for the Carter's, the Reagan's and the Clinton's. The Carter's brought him over from a small town in France and he said he was terrified to suddenly find himself working in the White House. He did not have a green card or work visa when he came and when Mrs. Carter found out she told him she'd take care of it. One day he was working in the kitchen when two men came to him and told him he needed to come with them. So he dropped what he was doing and got in the car, no questions. He came to a building where the people asked him all kinds of questions and he didn't know any of the answers. Finally they asked him, "Do you even know who the President is?" and he replied, "Yes, I cook him dinner every night." So they told him fine, he could go. Next thing he knows he is at a courthouse and they tell him to put his hand on a Bible and repeat after them, so he did and then "I am a citizen, just like that!" He said he was grateful for Mrs. Carter's help. Then he said years later he was working at the White House and a group of school children came to visit and they sung the National Anthem and he said, "I put my hand on my heart, and I was filled with love for this country and I started to cry and you know who I thought of in that moment? Mrs. Carter" Gave me chills when he told the story.

Some of his funniest stories were about Pres. Clinton. He is allergic to chocolate, flour and a type of nut, so Chef Meisner always made a special cake for him that was a white cake with strawberries. One time Ted Danson came to the White House and requested a chocolate cake, so Chef made two cakes and when it came time to serve, the President wanted the chocolate cake, Chef Meisner told him he had made a special cake for him and Pres. Clinton said he was President and if he wanted chocolate cake, he'd eat chocolate cake. So he did. Chef Meisner said the next day Pres. Clinton was giving a press conference and his eyes and face were all puffy, "I could always tell when President Clinton had been a naughty boy because I could see it in his face." He also said, "Pres. Clinton spent a lot of time in the kitchen. He likes his sweets. Then there was a time when not even the dog would eat with him, I don't know why, but he would not so the President was in the kitchen."

The second day of his class he taught the "Swans in Love" you can barely see them on the top tier, and the sugar bows. He demonstrated three different styles of bows. You can see what humidity does to sugar work in this photo. The rose and the orchids were melting before our eyes. It was so sad!! They passed around a piece of the bow and it was so wet and sticky I have no idea how he was able to work at all.

The orchid right after it was made. You just can't get that with fondant or gumpaste. It is stunning. But it went from this, to the following picture.

Pulled sugar may be too heartbreaking for me to try. Angela is going to teach us in January though. I think we'll be using the Isomalt, don't tell Roland!!