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Former White House Pastry Chef Teaches Cake Decorating Class in Harlem

By Gustavo Solis | September 9, 2014 1:48pm | Updated on September 10, 2014 8:54am
 Citymeals-On-Wheels kicked off their September fundraising campaign with a cake decorating class at Make My Cake Tuesday evening.
Sweet September
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HARLEM — He has baked cakes for presidents, prime ministers, foreign dignitaries and even a pope.

Now Bill Yosses, the former White House executive pastry chef, is throwing something in the oven for Harlem.

On Monday night, he kicked off Citymeals-on-Wheels' Sweet September fundraising campaign with a cake decorating class at Make My Cake with owner and baker Aliyyah Baylor.

For one month, restaurants and bakeries throughout the city will donate profits made from some of the desserts on their menu, said Beth Shapiro, executive director of Citymeals.

“It’s really cool to do something in the neighborhood and to work with Citymeals, which do pretty great work,” Yosses said. In June, the famed chef moved back to the neighborhood, where he has lived for 30 years before his Washington, D.C. gig.

Make My Cake, at 116th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, will donate part of the money from every purchase of a cake that starts with the word sweet. Other participating restaurants include the Tribeca Grill, Telepan and Michael Jordan's The Steak House.

“I’m here to see the masters,” said Nicky Mesiah, a baker who drove from Montclair, New Jersey, to attend the cake decorating class. “Even though I do cakes, I can’t decorate. I’m terrible.”

About 25 people showed up to the demo. Some, like Mesiah, were professional bakers. Others had recently graduated from culinary school and most just wanted to contribute to a good cause. There was a suggested donation of $75 and everyone got to take their cake home.

During the demo Yosses and Baylor shared some of their secrets like how to get a glossy shine on a cake, the best way to make decorative flowers and how to keep the decorations from sliding off the cake.

Yosses brought pictures of cakes he designed while working for "the coolest First Lady in history," to inspire the students.

Baylor, a third generation baker, spent part of the evening showing people how to make her signature rose decoration.

It only takes her a couple of seconds to craft a perfect rose and it’s one of the few things she didn’t learn from her mother, who said they looked like cabbages when Baylor first showed her, the baker said.

“I can do those flowers but not as fast as her,” said Camille Fowle, a recent culinary school graduate. “They know a lot more than I do. I’m here to learn.”