Ron Ben-Israel

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.

I have this problem - I don't have hobbies. Everything that's interesting becomes a vocation.

We used to be referred to as bakers and then we became known as cake decorators and now we are known as cake designers. I teach at the French Culinary Institute in New York and cake design is a legitimate profession.

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.

Really, a wedding is the first and biggest party people throw in their lifetime, so there's a lot of challenges and a lot of pressure.

Sweet Genius' viewers will be on the edge of their seats as we continue to push the limits with inspirations and ingredients, while showcasing the talents of some of the best pastry chefs around. As a result, the desserts that the chefs create are truly outrageous.

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

I have a very strong sense of who I am as a Jew and a strong sense of belonging.

Pastry chefs are very particular people - we like a controlled environment; we don't like an audience.

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

I imagine I appear very outgoing, and I do enjoy people and parties and being involved in life. I am also a very private person, and I value my quiet time. I think people assume I am just a party animal, and in truth, I need to recharge my battery just like everyone else.

For years, I survived as an artist on grants and touring as a dancer with dance companies, and I was living underground like so many artists, hand-to-mouth and so forth. And I never had the power to make decisions.