Ron Ben-Israel

“I find that my Israeli background actually helps me to break some boundaries because we don't have such long traditions. We took traditions from Europe, from the Middle East, and we were encouraged to explore and adapt things.”

“I grew up going to bakeries in Tel Aviv; that's where we got our birthday cakes, they were always European baking and butter creams. We have such good baking in Israel, and we have the Diaspora of Jews from all over, and we learned early on to adapt and absorb flavors from all over.”

“I don't follow trends. I make each cake for a particular wedding, or event.”

“I have a crusade against fondant, also shortening. There's no reason why wedding cakes can't taste good if you know what you're doing.”

“Repetitiveness and discipline are the secrets of cake decorating. The art comes from the meticulous technique, the way it does for a dancer.”

“A chocolate cake can include almond praline or blackberry, and a vanilla one can have cinnamon, cappuccino, or pistachio... Each is distinctive, and I bake only to order.”

“There are divisions between a culinary chef and a dessert chef, also called a pastry chef. There are specializations within the pastry chef field. Some pastry chefs specialize in baking breads, while others are master cake designers. Each field requires an exceptional level of creativity and attention to detail.”

“People do need to stay healthy and eat right to keep the body fit and functioning. But, our sweet tooth is a part of this wonderful machine, so we have to honor it and spoil it from time to time... to time.”

“I went to art school first and thought that I'm going to design theater sets. That was my path.”

“When I celebrated my bar mitzvah, there was no cake. Today, there is no such thing as a bar mitzvah in the United States without a special cake. It can be even more complicated and expensive than a wedding cake, because bar-mitzvah cakes are often based on a particular theme.”

“The process of making a wedding cake is complex on its own, from designing, mis-en-place, baking, frosting, structuring, decorating, to delivering.”

“On 'Sweet Genius,' you have to be tough with the chefs, but my goal was to guide them and choose the genius who will win $10,000 - not a bad sum at all for one day's work.”

“My background is inseparable from my work.”

“Regrettably, people today don't watch many programs that actually teach people how to cook, so I agreed to do a competitive show that I think will provide inspiration.”

“The product I deliver is a luxury item. It's not cupcakes. A team of 10 works on my cakes.”

“In the past few years, we've been doing amazing stuff with desserts. Pastry chefs have been using herbs and spices in their desserts. So vanilla cake doesn't have to be just vanilla, it can have a little thyme. Or you could have a custard with a little lavender in it, which is just amazing.”

“The most successful person is the one who is most inspired. That is true in food and in life.”

“For months I've been working on creating techniques to reproduce Swarovski crystals in sugar using the real stones to guide me.”

“I had - like a cat with nine lives, I've had so many different careers and tried so many different things.”

“In a bar mitzvah, you do the candle-lighting ceremony with the cake. Every birthday, the cake is the big moment.”