Birthday Cakes Fit for a White House Pastry Chef
Oct 29, 2011 | From the kitchen of Rose
Chef Albert Kumin, one of the most revered pastry chefs of all time, celebrated his 90th birthday on October 9 at a grand reception at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York City. The idea for the party, and parade of cakes by some of New York's best bakers was baked up by esteemed fellow cookbook author, friend, and creator/director of the pastry and baking program at ICE Nick Malgieri.
Toba Garrett, master chef instructor at ICE, organized all the bakers. Each cake represented a different stage of Chef Kumin's career.
The new Swiss Consul General, François Barras, presented the special medal to Chef Kumin. I gradually recognized that it was the same François Barras who, as a young man and assistant to the ambassador from Switzerland, invited me to lecture about chocolate at the Smithsonian. I hadn't seen him for 24 years. It was a delightful reunion. It was also a great pleasure to see so many of my colleagues who all came out to honor Chef Kumin. Photo by Herman Reiner
The first two cakes are about Albert's birth and early years in Switzerland and his home town of Wil in Canton St. Gallen. Cakes from Charmaine Jones and Martin Howard
.
This cake was designed by Colette Peters to honor Chef Kumin's early career as a pastry chef in Switzerland.
The cake was presented by Colette's assistant Jennifer Roach. Photo by Herman Reiner
Toba Garrett's cake represents Chef Kumin work at the opening of the Four Seasons Restaurant.
Ellen Baumwoll's cake represents Chef Kumin's teaching at the Culinary Institute of America.
Michelle Tampakis's cake represents Chef Kumin's work at Windows on the World at the World Trade Center. Photo by Herman Reiner
Adrienne Longhitano's cake represents Chef Kumin's work as White House pastry chef.
This is the back view of the White House.
Betty Van Norstrand created a replica of the cake she made with Albert for Disney World's Epcot Center.
Rosemary Littman's cake represents Chef Kumin's retirement garden in Vermont.
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BlondeBomber
11/02/2011 12:44 PM
LOVE the twin tower cake! That's wonderful. The chef cake was also quite impressive. My best friend is involved in pastry and actually made something similar to the chef cake and included a tray of mini cupcakes next to him. They were some of the best cupcakes ever. Thank you sharing these gorgeous cakes.
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Bill
11/01/2011 09:56 AM
Wow...they are all beautiful!. I took a one week course at I.C.E. with Toba Garrett...that's where I learned how to use a pastry bag. But these cakes are absolutely amazing.
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Tina
10/31/2011 10:43 AM
Magnificent!
Thank you for sharing these photos of creativity, passion, and homage.
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CharlesT
10/30/2011 12:10 PM
The "retirement garden" is a very impressive work, but a cake that looks like vegetables sorta kills my appetite for cake.
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Julie
10/30/2011 08:59 AM
Must have been something to see all those cakes in one place! My favorite is the one that looks inviting to eat as well as beautiful, Ellen Baumwoll's CIA cake.
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