“I always loved cake. I loved the chemistry of it.” — Ron Ben-Israel Quote

I always loved cake. I loved the chemistry of it.

The process of making a wedding cake is complex on its own, from designing, mis-en-place, baking, frosting, structuring, decorating, to delivering.

Pastry is different from cooking because you have to consider the chemistry, beauty and flavor. It's not just sugar and eggs thrown together. I tell my pastry chefs to be in tune for all of this. You have to be challenged by using secret or unusual ingredients.

Your best creative assets do not occur unless you do a mental shift. You have to be in a positive frame of mind because inspiration is fleeting. I walk to work for inspiration and to clear my mind.

After Rio, I joined the gymnastics team at the University of Utah. It was a hard transition, because I've always competed in elite gymnastics, where we throw big skills. In college, you don't get any points for difficulty, but once I got the hang of it, it was a piece of cake.

This is politics. In politics, you only show the cake but not the ingredients. The time will come when I show you the cake and the ingredients.

But for the time being, I've only learned one cake recipe and how to make scrambled eggs.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would look people in the face and be like, 'Your snake cake's not good.'