As Executive Pastry Chef at the White House for almost twenty-five years, Roland Mesnier has been responsible for creating thousands of elegant, delicious confections and dazzling desserts for hundreds of state dinners and family occasions. An accomplished teacher as well as a master chef, he now shares his expertise with home cooks in Dessert University. This beautifully illustrated volume is a complete course in making the full spectrum of spectacular sweets—from breakfast pastries, cookies, and pies to fresh-fruit desserts, frozen confections, and cakes. Recipes in each chapter are organized from the simplest to the most complex, and Chef Mesnier walks you through each step, pointing out common mistakes and offering insights on technique gained from his years as a professional. Most of these recipes need few special ingredients and almost no fancy equipment; nearly everything can be purchased at a well-stocked supermarket, department store, or kitchen supply store. Chef Mesnier includes tips on techniques, ingredients, and serving suggestions, and offers home cooks practical advice, such as how to fill and use a pastry bag and the best way to whip egg whites. A resource list is also included, so cooks can find the more unusual ingredients they need to make these delectable creations. Mesnier starts off with his fresh-fruit desserts, including uniquely wonderful recipes such as Bananas in Raspberry Cream, Blueberry Fool, and Poached Peaches with Chestnut Mousse. He moves on to creamy custards, puddings, soufflés, mousses and Bavarians, ice creams, meringues, crêpes, and breakfast treats (including buttery brioche and croissant doughs). Chef Mesnier's cookie and bar recipes will fill your cookie jar with such treats as Chocolate Chip Cookies, Almond Crescents, Orange Butter Cookies, Brownies, and Florentine Squares. There are sweet and savory tarts, and cakes ranging from the simple (Lemon Pound Cake) to the unusual (Peanut Butter and Jelly Roulade Cake) to the sophisticated (Chocolate Champagne Mousse Cake). Ambitious home cooks can even try their hand at making chocolate candy and sugar decorations. A chapter on syrups, sauces, and other dessert components completes the book. More than fifty black-and-white line drawings throughout illustrate Chef Mesnier's instructions for the more complicated recipes, and there are sixteen stunning color photographs of finished desserts. Home cooks and professionals spend hundreds of dollars in formal cooking classes to learn what masters like Roland Mesnier have to teach. In Dessert University, Chef Mesnier has distilled the experience and expertise of an extraordinary career into one accessible, user-friendly volume. Whether you're a novice who has never picked up a rolling pin or an accomplished cook looking to hone and enhance your skills, this is truly a book you cannot do without.

Dessert University: Dessert University

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Mesnier, Roland

Baking

Simon&Schuster

In his twenty-five years as Executive White House Pastry Chef, Roland Mesnier prided himself on creating a unique dessert for every special occasion, from elaborate State Dinners and formal receptions to smaller family gatherings and birthday celebrations. In Roland Mesnier's Basic to Beautiful Cakes, the author of the classic and comprehensive Dessert University shows home cooks how to create desserts that can be beautifully embellished to serve any occasion by using a small set of foolproof cake recipes. Hazelnut Ring Cake, for example, can be served on its own at teatime, as it was in the Reagan White House; or, with the addition of espresso-flavored whipped cream and a crown of caramelized phyllo, can become the memorable culmination of an elegant dinner party. Chocolate Dome Cake (one of the Carters' favorites) can be topped with raspberry glaze, served with Grand Marnier mousse, or spangled with berries. Blueberry Upside-Down Cake with yogurt sauce is a light treat for a long weekend morning; the cherry version, with its lattice of whipped cream, will delight children and adults alike, and the truly grand Peach and Spice Upside-Down Cake with Brioche "Peaches" is a show-stopping confection, elegant enough for the Clintons to serve to the chancellor of Germany and the prime minister of England. Even on the most important ocassions, Chef Mesnier believes that desserts don't have to be filled with butter and cream. Recipes like the wheat-free Carrot Cake, the dairy-free Orange Sherbert Cake with Glazed Oranges, and the low-fat Apricot Soufflé Cake with Apricot Grand Marnier Sauce satisfy guests with special dietary concerns but still meet Roland's exacting standards for taste and presentation. The easy-to-follow instructions for these time-tested recipes anticipate pitfalls and offer sensible suggestions for when it is worth to invest in high-end ingredients and equipment and when you can get by without them, and how to peel and slice fruit for the most attractive results. With Chef Mesnier taking you through every step of each carefully constructed recipe, you can be sure that your cakes will be delicious and spectacular every time. Soon you will have mastered the basic recipes and a few of the more advanced techniques, and you will be able to develop a repertoire of your own. like Chef Mesnier, you'll be able to tailor your desserts to the tastes of your guests or the spirit of a celebration. Whether the table is lit by tapers and laid with your best silver or you are serving a few friends Sunday supper in the kitchen, you will be able to create sophisticated mouthwatering desserts that your guests will remember for weeks to come.

Roland Mesnier's Basic to Beautiful Cakes

Chattman, Lauren

An accessible resource on cake preparation provides for any occasion and demonstrates how to embellish approximately twenty basic recipes for more extravagant needs, in a volume that features such examples as transforming a Basic Blueberry Upside Down Cake with Crème Anglaise and Fresh Strawberry Sauce. 30,000 first printing.

As Executive Pastry Chef at the White House for twenty-five years, Roland Mesnier has been responsible for creating thousands of elegant, delicious confections and dazzling desserts for hundreds of state dinners and family occasions. An accomplished teacher as well as a master chef, he now shares his expertise with home cooks in Dessert University, which features more than 300 spectacular recipes. This beautifully illustrated volume is a complete course in making the full spectrum of spectacular sweets—from breakfast pastries, cookies, and pies to fresh-fruit desserts, frozen confections, and cakes. Recipes in each chapter are organized from the simplest to the most complex, and Chef Mesnier walks you through each step, pointing out common mistakes and offering insights on technique gained from his years as a professional. Most of these recipes need few special ingredients and almost no fancy equipment; nearly everything can be purchased at a well-stocked supermarket, department store, or kitchen supply store. Chef Mesnier includes tips on techniques, ingredients, and serving suggestions, and offers home cooks practical advice, such as how to fill and use a pastry bag and the best way to whip egg whites. Mesnier starts off with his fresh-fruit desserts, including uniquely wonderful recipes such as Bananas in Raspberry Cream, Blueberry Fool, and Poached Peaches with Chestnut Mousse. He moves on to creamy custards, puddings, soufflés, mousses and Bavarians, ice creams, meringues, crêpes, and breakfast treats (including buttery brioche and croissant doughs). Chef Mesnier's cookie and bar recipes will fill your cookie jar with such treats as Chocolate Chip Cookies, Almond Crescents, Orange Butter Cookies, Brownies, and Florentine Squares. There are sweet and savory tarts, and cakes ranging from the simple (Lemon Pound Cake) to the unusual (Peanut Butter and Jelly Roulade Cake) to the sophisticated (Chocolate Champagne Mousse Cake). More than fifty black-and-white line drawings throughout illustrate Chef Mesnier's instructions for the more complicated recipes. Whether you're a novice who has never picked up a rolling pin or an accomplished cook looking to hone and enhance your skills, this is truly a book you cannot do without.

Dessert University: More Than 300 Spectacular Recipes and Essential Lessons from White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier

In this memoir, Roland Mesnier, pastry chef to five presidents, recalls the stunning desserts he created for White House State Dinners, formal events, and family celebrations.

A Sweet World of White House Desserts: From Blown-Sugar Baskets to Gingerbread Houses, a Pastry Chef Remembers

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

White House Historical Association

In this memoir and cookbook, Roland Mesnier, executive pastry chef to five presidents, tells the story behind each of the holiday gingerbread houses he created for display in the White House State Dining Room. Chef Mesnier also provides step-by-step instructions and templates for constructing and decorating a gingerbread house in the home kitchen. During the holidays, thousands of guests are served freshly made cookies and desserts at buffet events and private receptions. More than thirty of Chef Mesnier's White House favorite holiday recipes are featured including such cookies as coconut chocolate squares and linzer stars and trees; traditional holiday recipes such as buche de Noel, fruit cake, and egg nog; cakes and soufflés such as orange sabayon, spice cake, and gingerbread soufflé; and lastly, meringues, mousses, fillings, frozen desserts, and fresh fruit. The book includes a foreword by First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who hired Chef Mesnier in 1979, and a foreword by First Lady Laura Bush, who was in the White House when Chef Mesnier retired in 2004.

The White House in Gingerbread: Memories and Recipes

Ramsdell, Mark

Cooking Education & Reference

The holiday season at the White House is a magical time of year. The house is beautifully decorated from top to bottom, and for nearly fifty years, a one-of-a-kind gingerbread house has been the centerpiece of the White House Christmas decorations. THE GINGERBREAD WHITE HOUSE: A Pop-Up Book, created by best-selling author of pop-up books Chuck Fischer, invites you to enjoy this beloved tradition in your own home. Discover fanciful decorations, presidential pets in marzipan, and inside stories from pastry chefs Roland Mesnier and Mark Ramsdell. Their memories of the White House pastry kitchen during the holidays and the many first families they worked with are featured in the enclosed booklet. Children of all ages will enjoy the recipes included in the book and playing with the paper punch-outs, including the president’s limousine, a Secret Service agent, Santa on his sleigh, and a chef serving pastries. Booklet includes gingerbread scratch and sniff!

The Gingerbread White House: A Pop-up Book

Children's Books

Fischer, Chuck

Holidays & Celebrations

This extraordinary success-story-told by the hero himself-of a young French pastry chef who climbed his way to the top, embodies the great American dream. After working at the Savoy in London, the George V in Paris, the Princess in Bermuda, and the Homestead in Virginia, Roland Mesnier took on the job of a lifetime as pastry chef to the White House. He provides behind-the-scenes insight into the characters, tastes, and obsessions of the five presidents and first ladies he served during his 25 years in Washington. Having witnessed major world events from the hub of the world's superpower, Mesnier has unique perspective on both crises and celebrations. He recounts stories such as Carter's incessant battle for the return of American hostages in Tehran, the aftermath of the attempt to assassinate Reagan, Bush senior's doubts after the war in Kuwait, and the shock of September 11. He uncovers intimate details such as Mrs. Reagan's bad moods and Prince Charles's embarrassment at not knowing how to use a tea bag. Fiercely loyal to each of the first families, Mesnier's bipartisan message is positive and inspirational. Twelve easy-to-follow recipes include the favorite desserts of presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House: A Memoir

Malard, Christian

Flammarion

This extraordinary success-story-told by the hero himself-of a young French pastry chef who climbed his way to the top, embodies the great American dream. After working at the Savoy in London, the George V in Paris, the Princess in Bermuda, and the Homestead in Virginia, Roland Mesnier took on the job of a lifetime as pastry chef to the White House. He provides behind-the-scenes insight into the characters, tastes, and obsessions of the five presidents and first ladies he served during his 25 years in Washington. Having witnessed major world events from the hub of the world's superpower, Mesnier has unique perspective on both crises and celebrations. He recounts stories such as Carter's incessant battle for the return of American hostages in Tehran, the aftermath of the attempt to assassinate Reagan, Bush senior's doubts after the war in Kuwait, and the shock of September 11. He uncovers intimate details such as Mrs. Reagan's bad moods and Prince Charles's embarrassment at not knowing how to use a tea bag. Fiercely loyal to each of the first families, Mesnier's bipartisan message is positive and inspirational. Twelve easy-to-follow recipes include the favorite desserts of presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House, A Memoir

Sucré d'État

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mesnier, Roland. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mesnier, Roland

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mesnier, Roland. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Dessert University: Dessert University

Roland Mesnier's Basic to Beautiful Cakes

Roland Mesnier's Basic to Beautiful Cakes

Dessert University: More Than 300 Spectacular Recipes and Essential Lessons from White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier

A Sweet World of White House Desserts: From Blown-Sugar Baskets to Gingerbread Houses, a Pastry Chef Remembers

The White House in Gingerbread: Memories and Recipes

The Gingerbread White House: A Pop-up Book

All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House: A Memoir

All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House, A Memoir

Sucré d'État