Ron Ben-Israel facts for kids

Ron Ben-Israel is a famous Israeli-American pastry chef. He was born in Israel in 1957. Ron Ben-Israel is known for his amazing wedding and special occasion cakes. He is especially good at making detailed sugar paste flowers. He owns a cake shop called Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York City. From 2011 to 2013, he hosted a TV cooking show called Sweet Genius. He has also been a judge on many Food Network shows. These include Cake Wars, Chopped, and Guy's Grocery Games.

Ron Ben-Israel's Early Life

Ron Ben-Israel grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel. His mother was born in Vienna. She was saved from a difficult time by American helpers. Later, she moved to Israel. Ron's father, Moshe, lost most of his family during the Holocaust. He survived a very tough time in Auschwitz. His father worked in printing. His mother made maps for the government. Ron loved baking in the kitchen when he was a child. He went to Thelma Yellin High School for the Arts. There, he focused on learning dance.

Ron's Dancing Career

Ron Ben-Israel started his dance career when he was 21. This was right after he finished his time in the army. He became very good at modern dance. He danced with two Israeli dance groups for about 15 years. These groups were Batsheva and Bat-Dor. He traveled all over the world to perform. Near the end of his dancing career, he moved to the United States.

Ron Ben-Israel's Baking Journey

In 1993, Ron Ben-Israel stopped dancing. He had developed arthritis, which made dancing difficult. He was living in New York City at the time. He started a new career in cooking. He took temporary jobs making cakes and designing shop windows. In 1996, he truly fell in love with baking.

He was discovered by Betty Van Nostrand and Martha Stewart. They saw one of his beautiful cakes in a shop window. Ron wanted to make more elegant cakes. He used his Israeli background, where pastry making was more international. He designed a cake for the very first issue of Martha Stewart Living Weddings in 1995. He officially started Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in 1999. In 2003, The New York Times newspaper called him "the Manolo Blahnik of wedding cakes." This meant his cakes were as famous and stylish as designer shoes.

Ron's TV Appearances

Ron Ben-Israel has been on many television shows. He appeared on Martha Stewart and the Bravo Network. He was also on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Food Network. He even appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman.

From 2011 to 2013, Ron Ben-Israel was the host and a judge. This was for the Food Network competition show Sweet Genius. He also appeared as a guest judge on Season 2 of the Netflix show Nailed It!. He was a guest judge on Season 3 of Netflix's Sugar Rush. You might have also seen him on Food Network's The Big Bake.