Ron Ben-Israel facts for kids

Ron Ben-Israel, born in 1957, is a famous Israeli-American pastry chef. He owns Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York City. He is well-known for making beautiful cakes for weddings and special events. His cakes often feature amazing sugar paste flowers. From 2011 to 2013, he hosted a cooking TV show called Sweet Genius. Ron Ben-Israel has also been a judge on many Food Network shows. These include Cake Wars, Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games, and Worst Cooks in America.

Ron Ben-Israel's Early Life

Ron Ben-Israel was born in Israel. His mother was from Vienna and later moved to Israel. His father, Moshe, went through a very difficult time during World War II but survived. After the war, his father worked in printing. His mother worked for the government, making maps.

Ron grew up in Tel Aviv. As a child, he loved to bake in the kitchen. He went to the Thelma Yellin High School for the Arts. There, he focused on learning dance.

Dancing Career

At age 21, after serving in the army, Ron Ben-Israel started a career in dance. He specialized in modern dance. For about 15 years, he danced with famous Israeli dance companies. These included Batsheva and Bat-Dor. He traveled around the world performing. Near the end of his dancing career, he moved to the United States.

Becoming a Pastry Chef

In 1993, Ron Ben-Israel stopped dancing. He had developed arthritis, which made it hard to continue. While living in New York City, he started a new path in cooking. He took temporary jobs making cakes and designing shop windows.

In 1996, he truly fell in love with baking. Famous people like Betty Van Nostrand and Martha Stewart noticed his talent. Martha Stewart saw one of his cakes in a shop window. Ron wanted to make more elegant cakes. He felt that American baking at the time used too many artificial ingredients. He used his Israeli background, where baking was more international, to create delicate cakes.

He designed a cake for the very first issue of Martha Stewart Living Weddings in 1995. In 1999, he officially launched his own business, Ron Ben-Israel Cakes. In 2003, The New York Times newspaper called him "the Manolo Blahnik of wedding cakes." This meant his cakes were as stylish and sought-after as designer shoes!

TV Appearances

Ron Ben-Israel has appeared on many television shows. These include Martha Stewart, the Bravo Network, The Oprah Winfrey Show, the Food Network, and the Late Show with David Letterman.

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