As a child, Bill Yosses loved devouring the sweets his mother baked. These days Yosses, the White House pastry chef, creates both everyday sweets for the First Family and elaborate desserts served at state dinners. For
O he made a Black Forest cake in a chocolate box, "a very modern dessert with classic underpinnings—dark chocolate cake, cherries, whipped cream," he says. He swapped in some whole grain pastry flour and used omega-3-rich almond oil instead of butter, explaining, "I often make healthy substitutions now because I'm taking care of the Obama family." He also subtly tinkered with the cake's traditional taste, adding honey from the White House garden, plus lemon zest. "I like giving people flavors that transport them out of the present," he says.
Get the recipe: Bill Yosses' Black Forest Cake
Plus: Next: Bill Yosses's favorite secret ingredient
