Sugar Flower Bootcamp with Ron Ben-Israel

Ron and his Jade Rose

Several years ago I saw a chef on the Martha Stewart show. He was confident, in command of the segment, and had a clear vision of right and wrong when it came to cakes and their decor, including sugar flowers. I read posts about him, watched his videos on YouTube, and as Facebook and Twitter became part of our daily lives, followed him on both.

I learned a lot via observation and practice in my own flower-making. At culinary school I was lucky enough to study sugar flowers and cakes under one of his good friends, Alicia Boada, who taught us his methods. I came close to being able to replicate every fold and shading technique, but couldn't quite capture the art I saw in his work.

That chef is Ron Ben-Israel, arguably the best sugar-flower expert in the US, and this past weekend I had the opportunity to spend three intensive days under his tutelage learning the intricate steps to produce flowers like he does.

I arrived around midnight the night before our first 9:00 a.m. class began. When I walked out of the hotel in the morning, I saw my first awe-inspiring Live Oaks each hanging with long, light tresses of Spanish Moss. Beautiful. I walked the two blocks under these trees to the class, hosted at Minette Rushing's Custom Cakes in Savannah, GA. There were 20 of us RBI groupies, each excited to be there and get started. I had been circling his Facebook page like a shark...waiting for the next class to be offered. It turns out, so was Clay from New York, Laura from Italy via Montana, and Tina -- she flew about 23 hours from Australia just to study.

An orange grouping of peonies and callas.

We learned how to make several complicated flowers, most petal-by-petal: The peony, rose, and tulip. The sweet pea, calla lily, hydrangea and filler leaves. Enough learning was packed into three days to be able to apply the techniques to just about any flower, so even though we may not have done the dahlia or snap dragon, I think I could safely reproduce them without embarassing myself.

Superfine Sweet Peas

I was really compelled to push myself by Ron's perfectionism. My sense of order and pattern drives me to have everything level, square, and clean, but Ron's keen eye for detail could see nature in every fold. He has a natural muscle and sense-memory for exactly how a sweet pea's outer petal should move. An innate feel for for the curl and color of the aging edge of a rose petal. Does nature introduce cracks into a petal? Strange paper-like folds at the base of a lily? No. So fix it. Do it better. Try.

Sure it came at a cost. Studying with the best in the nation means you'll be shelling out for the class, hotel, air fare and maybe some tools. Dealing with jet lag, sore hands, and the occasional admonition from the Sensei. But learning to see the fine details through his eyes was worth it. And the friends I made created a nice tight community of flower makers, any of which I feel like I could call on for input. Big hugs and shout outs to all of you and above all, many thanks to Minette and Ron!

Now, for your viewing pleasure, a cute shot of Ron dancing with Minette, all in the name of teaching, of course... :)

Ron and Minette demonstrating the way the spiral on a rosebud is made.