Chef Roland Mesnier began his career at the tender age of fourteen when his father apprenticed him to a baker in a nearby town. In his career, Chef Roland has travelled the globe, learning his craft by working with some of the best chefs of the day, in some of the best hotels in the world, including the Savoy in London, the Princess in Bermuda, and the Homestead in Virginia.

Eventually he came to the attention of President Jimmy and First Lady Rosalyn Carter, and the rest, as they say, is history! For the next 25 years, and for a total of five presidents, Chef Mesnier created exquisite desserts for some of the world’s most important dignitaries. In his retirement he now serves on the advisory board for A Spoonful of Sin. Chef Mesnier personally tastes each Sin-of-the-Month selection before it is approved.

 Chef Mark Ramsdell is the Director and Head Instructor for L’Academie de Cuisine’s professional Pastry Arts Program. A graduate of L'Academie, he studied under the tutelage of Chef Roland and worked with him at the White House.

Chef Mark founded several award-winning culinary enterprises including thePastry Design Studio, specializing in large show cakes. Pastry Design Studio was listed by Washingtonian Magazine as one of Washington, DC's top ten pastry shops for the 15 years Chef Mark owned the company. He also established Dining In, the DC area's first gourmet meal delivery service.  

Over the past 31 years L’Academie de Cuisine has been the premier culinary institute in the Washington, DC area and is recognized as one of the finest culinary schools in the United States, earning many top honors including “Cooking School of the Year” in 1997 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. And in 2005, L’Academie was named among the Top 10 Culinary Schools in North America by CookingSchoolsCompared.com. Many of the area’s most renowned chefs owe their success to the culinary education they received at L’Academie and the school’s chefs and instructors bring their enthusiasm for gastronomy to recreational and professional students alike.

December’s Sin:

We are very delighted to bring you December’s dessert, which is a collaboration of these two great pastry artists! Together, with the generous help of the entire team at L’Academie de Cuisine, they have prepared three delightful desserts that will remind you of an old fashioned Christmas tradition — going out into the snowy woods to bring in a fresh tree for Christmas!

The first dessert is a chocolate sucree tartlette with a ganache rosette, which will resemble a little tree! Perfect for the chocolate lovers!

And what is left when you chop down the tree? Why, a little stump, of course! Your second dessert is a roulade of joconde biscuit with ganache finished on the outside with brushed chocolate to look like a little tree stump!

 The “snow” will be provided by two small Mexican wedding cookies with lots of powdered sugar, a Christmas tradition in itself!  

Happy Holidays from Chefs Mesnier and Ramsdell, L’Academie de Cuisine, and all of us here at A Spoonful of Sin!  

Learn more about L’Academie’s professional and recreational classes at http://aspoonfulofsin.com/www.lacademie.com or call

800-664-CHEF.

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