This photograph shows White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier and assistant pastry chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison putting finishing touches on a cake for a White House event held on May 31, 2004. Chef Morrison began working with Chef Mesnier in 1995, working her way up to become assistant pastry chef. In 2014, Morrison became the first woman appointed White House executive pastry chef. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier (left) and assistant pastry chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison (right), carry a "Best of Kenya" dessert and accompanying petit four tray into the State Dining Room. The desserts were served at a State Dinner in honor of President Mwai Kibaki of the Republic of Kenya and Lucy Muthoni Kibaki, the first lady of Kenya, hosted by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Welch Bush on October 6, 2003. The main dessert consisted of white chocolate espresso cups filled with banana and tea mousse circling the coffee grinder centerpieces and coffee ice cream shaped like giant coffee beans. Each dessert was accompanied by trays of petit four decorated with sugar giraffes. In 2014, Chef Morrison went on to become the first woman to appointed White House Executive Pastry Chef. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph the White House pastry team poses in the State Dining Room with the dessert they prepared for the White House 200th anniversary dinner on November 9, 2000. In the front row, from left to right, are: White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, Marlene Roudebush, and Susan "Susie" E. Morrison. The team members in the back row are: Patrick Musel, an unidentified person, and Lynn McCartin. Guests at the 200th anniversary dinner, including former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, former President Gerald R. Ford, former First Lady Betty Ford, former President Jimmy Carter, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and former President George H.W. Bush, and former First Lady Barbara Bush, joined President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for a formal dinner in the East Room. The desserts included a decoration designed to look like John Adams' Blessing which was engraved into the mantel in the State Dining Room in 1945. It reads, “I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.” For the full menu from this dinner, see 1140937. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier (left), Social Secretary Catherine Fenton (center), and assistant pastry chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison (right) pose with a birthday cake for President George W. Bush in the Green Room. The cake was made by the pastry team to celebrate President Bush's 56th birthday. Decorations on the cake included the Presidential seal and a Texas longhorn, likely a reference to Bush's childhood in Texas. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, the White House pastry team stand in the Family Dining Room looking over dessert for a dinner for the leaders of the International Democrat Union (IDU), later known as the International Democracy Union, on June 10, 2002. The dinner was hosted by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Welch Bush in the State Dining Room. The top of the cakes are decorated with glazed orange slices. Photographed, from left to right, are: Marlene Roudebush, Patrick Musel, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, and Susan "Susie" E. Morrison. For the full menu from this dinner, see 1140906. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier (left) and assistant pastry chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison stand in the Center Hall with a cake for President George W. Bush's 55th birthday. The baseball themed cake is decorated with a bat, mitt, and baseballs. The Center Hall is located on the Second Floor residence of the White House. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier (right) and assistant pastry chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison (left) pose with a birthday cake for President George W. Bush's longtime friend, Rev. Billy Graham. The celebration of his 83rd birthday on November 6, 2001 included a dinner of Maine lobster and roasted veal followed by slices of cake in the Family Dining Room. Chef Morrison and Chef Mesnier are photographed here in the State Dining Room. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

This photograph of members of the White House pastry team taken by Joyce C. Naltchayan in the Ground Floor Corridor of the White House. From left to right are Susan "Susie" E. Morrison, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, and Marlene Roudebush holding one of their creative desserts, a sugar-based basket filled with a raspberry treat. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, White House pastry chefs pose with "Topiary Valencia" desserts made for a State Dinner honoring King Juan Carlos I of Spain and Queen Sofia on February 23, 2000, during the Bill Clinton administration. From left to right are Marlene Roudebush, Patrick Musel, Susan "Susie" E. Morrison, Roland Mesnier, and an unknown pastry chef. Inspired by Spain's citrus fruits, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier created fruit shaped orange, clementine, lemon, and lime sorbets, each filled with a different mousse. The sorbet fruits, along with marzipan roses and crystallized violets, were held in chocolate boxes bearing the emblem of the King of Spain. Each display of fruit was topped with a pulled-sugar orange blossom branch and surrounded by fresh kumquats and raspberries. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier presents dessert for a luncheon with members of the media hosted by President George W. Bush on February 27, 2001 in the Family Dining Room. Standing next to Chef Mesnier is assistant pastry chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison. The dessert consisted of a cake decorated with a chocolate keyboard and sugar news article. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

This is a photograph of White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier with pastry chefs Susie Morrison, Lynn McCartin, and Marlene Roudebush with a cake designed to look like the Oval Office during President George W. Bush's administration. The three chocolate tiered cake was decorated with marzipan Oval Office decorations and an edible Presidential Seal. It was served at a luncheon on January 30th, 2002. The pastry team is photographed in the Family Dining Room. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph the White House pastry team poses in the State Dining Room with the dessert they prepared for the White House 200th anniversary dinner on November 9, 2000. In the front row, from left to right, are: White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, Marlene Roudebush, and Susan "Susie" E. Morrison. The team members in the back row are: Patrick Musel, an unidentified person, and Lynn McCartin. Guests at the 200th anniversary dinner, including former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, former President Gerald R. Ford, former First Lady Betty Ford, former President Jimmy Carter, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and former President George H.W. Bush, and former First Lady Barbara Bush, joined President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for a formal dinner in the East Room. The desserts included a decoration designed to look like John Adams' Blessing which was engraved into the mantel in the State Dining Room in 1945. It reads, “I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.” For the full menu from this dinner, see 1140937. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph the White House pastry team poses for a picture together in the Green Room on May 6, 1998. Led by White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, the pastry team had the desserts lined up in the Green Room for a State Dinner in honor of President of the Council of Ministers Romano Prodi of the Italian Republic, more commonly known as the prime minister of Italy, and Flavia Franzoni, his wife. The dinner was hosted by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the East Room. From left to right are Chef Mesnier, Lynn McCartin, Susan "Susie" E. Morrison, Marlene Roudebush, and assistant pastry chef Franette McCulloch. For the full menu from this State Dinner, see 1140843. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, the White House Pastry Team poses for a photograph together in the Family Dining room on December 13, 2001. Standing from left to right are Susan Limb, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, Susan "Susie" E. Morrison, Lynn McCartin, Marlene Roudebush, and Patrick Musel. The pastry team puts together the elaborate desserts enjoyed at White House events and celebrations. In 2014 Susie Morrison became the first woman to appointed Executive Pastry Chef. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph by Ralph Alswang, the White House pastry team poses in the State Dining Room with dessert ready to be served at the NATO summit dinner hosted on April 23, 1999. The dinner commemorated the 50th anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO). The desserts consisted of blue sugar stands that held domes of strawberry nougat glace. Each was decorated with hand-painted sugar flags for each country in attendance and garnished with sliced strawberry and kiwi. Accompanying the main desserts were a champagne sabayon, chocolate globe truffles, and passion fruit tuiles. Among the staff pictured are Susan "Susie" E. Morrison (far left), assistant pastry chef Franette McCulloch (second from right), and White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier (far right). This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, pastry chefs Susan "Susie" E. Morrison and Marlene Roudebush and an unknown chef pose with White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier behind the "Nordic Snow Drift" desserts they made for a luncheon celebrating the opening of the "Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga” exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton invited dignitaries from Nordic nations, their guests, and staff and supporters from the museum to celebrate the occasion at the White House on April 28, 2000. Guests were able to view a selection of artifacts from the show in the Cross Hall. The dessert, designed by Chef Mesnier, was composed of a chocolate Viking ship filled with lingonberry sorbet and vanilla ice cream and topped with a fluffy meringue. Each ship was surrounded by strawberries wrapped in thinly sliced cantaloupe and a kiwi sauce, meant to resemble waves and the sea. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier and assistant pastry chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison show off a cake made for First Lady Laura Welch Bush's birthday celebration on November 4, 2001. The cake is decorated with pulled-sugar flowers and features a portrait of Mrs. Bush in the center. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, White House pastry chefs pose with "Topiary Valencia" desserts made for a State Dinner honoring King Juan Carlos I of Spain and Queen Sofia on February 23, 2000, during the Bill Clinton administration. From left to right are Marlene Roudebush, Patrick Musel, Susan "Susie" E. Morrison, Roland Mesnier, and an unknown pastry chef. Inspired by Spain's citrus fruits, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier created fruit shaped orange, clementine, lemon, and lime sorbets, each filled with a different mousse. The sorbet fruits, along with marzipan roses and crystallized violets, were held in chocolate boxes bearing the emblem of the King of Spain. Each display of fruit was topped with a pulled-sugar orange blossom branch and surrounded by fresh kumquats and raspberries. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph the White House pastry team poses in the State Dining Room with the dessert they prepared for the White House 200th anniversary dinner on November 9, 2000. In the front row, from left to right, are: White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, Marlene Roudebush, and Susan "Susie" E. Morrison. The team members in the back row are: Patrick Musel, an unidentified person, and Lynn McCartin. Guests at the 200th anniversary dinner, including former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, former President Gerald R. Ford, former First Lady Betty Ford, former President Jimmy Carter, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and former President George H.W. Bush, and former First Lady Barbara Bush, joined President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for a formal dinner in the East Room. The desserts included a decoration designed to look like John Adams' Blessing which was engraved into the mantel in the State Dining Room in 1945. It reads, “I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.” For the full menu from this dinner, see 1140937. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this Photograph, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier (left) and assistant pastry chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison stand behind a buffet prepared for a St. Patrick's Day celebration in the State Dining Room on March 17, 2000. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph the White House pastry team poses with the strawberries and cream desserts they prepared for a State Dinner in honor of Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Cherie Blair, his wife. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted the dinner on February 5, 1998. White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier designed dark chocolate baskets filled with lemon curd and Devonshire cream. Each basket was topped with poached strawberries and a white pulled-sugar rose. From left to right are Chef Mesnier, Susan "Susie" E. Morrison, Patrick Musel, Lynn McCartin, assistant pastry chef Franette McCulloch, an unidentified staff member, and Marlene Roudebush. For the full menu from this State Dinner, see 1140835. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier and assistant pastry chef Franette McCulloch survey the desserts for a White House event in the Family Dining Room before they are served to guests. The Family Dining Room, which connects to the State Dining Room, is often used to prepare for White House social events due to the lack of space in the kitchen. In the background are other White House pastry team members including Marlene Roudebush (left) and Susan "Susie" E. Morrison (center). This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, White House kitchen staff prepare the dessert for a State Dinner in honor of President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro of the Italian Republic and his daughter Marianna Scalfaro. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted the dinner on April 2, 1996. On the table are "Strawberry Surprise" desserts designed by White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier who took inspiration from the strawberry crops enjoyed in Italy. He created giant sorbet strawberries filled with Amaretto parfait and Italian white almond mousse. The strawberries are decorated with seeds made of pistachio and pulled-sugar strawberry blossoms and surrounded by seasonal fresh fruit. On the right are crème brûlées that were served on the side. The dessert was also accompanied by petit four trays of chocolate dipped Italian nougat, almond soufflés, chestnut cream gondolas, and decorative sugar swans swimming in lagoons. In the center of the photograph are pastry chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison (left) and assistant pastry chef Franette McCulloch. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, members of the pastry team, Susan "Susie" E. Morrison (left) and Franette McCulloch (right), stand with an unidentified White House staff member. Just behind them is White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Susie Morrison went on to become executive pastry chef in 2014. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.

In this photograph, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier and members of the pastry team stand with a cake created for a celebration of Godfrey Sperling's birthday on October 2, 1995. In 1966, Christian Science Monitor columnist Godfrey Sperling began a tradition called the Sperling Breakfast where he brought journalists together to chat with politicians over breakfast. On the record conversations at the breakfasts became headline stories. On Sperling's 80th birthday, President Bill Clinton invited him to host his breakfast at the White House. President Clinton's time as a Sperling Breakfast guest had been significant to his election. For the birthday celebration Chef Mesnier made a dairy free carrot cake decorated to look like one of the Sperling Breakfasts. It had crème brûlée eggs, corn syrup coffee, marzipan bacon, a pull-sugar newspaper, and pulled-sugar flowers. From left to right are Chef Mesnier, Susan "Susie" E. Morrison, an unidentified member of the pastry team, and Franette McCulloch. This photograph is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Chef Mesnier created elaborate desserts for the White House from 1980 to 2004.