White House pastry chef calls it quits because he doesn't like to 'demonize cream, butter, sugar and eggs' in Obama administration

Bill Yosses has been baking fewer breakfast doughnuts, sometimes replacing them with apple, kale, spinach and ginger smoothies

He was hired in 2007 during the Bush administration, but is moving back to New York where he can continue making soufflés and sugar sculptures

Yosses' work has been featured at State Dinners, which are among the only events where his full-fat creativity has been on display

'For special, nostalgic occasions, we still make 20 percent traditional desserts,' he says



White House pastry chef Bill Yosses is quitting, and partially blames first Lady Michelle Obama's focus on 'healthier' eating.

Former first lady Laura Bush hired Yosses in 2007, but the Obamas brought a new attitude in 2009 that often frowns on fatty, decadent desserts.

'I don't want to demonize cream, butter, sugar and eggs,' he told The New York Times, quipping that leaving the plum White House job was a 'bittersweet decision.'

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White House pastry chef Bill Yosses has been dogged by the healthier-eating preferences of first lady Michelle Obama since 2009, so he's packing up his pastry knives and leaving

Gone are the days of full-fat, traditional desserts like those featured in the Bush White House -- including the traditional iced Christmas gingerbread house Hail to the Eggplant: The first lady has championed healthy eating, especially for children

The Daily Caller noted that while the famed New York restaurant pâtissier has been replacing butter with fruit puree, and using honey and agave nectar instead of sugar, he was never fully on-board with changing how he made tarts, cakes, sugar sculptures and other yummies.

His masterpieces have been the subject of Bon Appetit-worthy photography whenever foreign dignitaries visit the U.S. for State Dinners, but Michelle Obama's policies of encouraging 'food literacy' apparently denied his craft most-favored-nation status.

Yosses has even pared back on baking breakfast doughnuts, sometimes replacing them with smoothies made from apples, kale, spinach and ginger.

The Times reported Tuesday that when the Obamas moved in, he was instructed to make fewer indulgent treats, produce them in smaller portions, and serve them less often to the first family.

President Obama refers to him as 'the crustmaster,' but his signature work has been featured less and less.

'For special, nostalgic occasions, we still make 20 percent traditional desserts,' Yosses said. 'Coconut cake with seven-minute frosting, lemon steamed pudding with layers of custard, mousse and cake, sticky toffee pudding, and every kind of chocolate dessert possible.'

Dessert or Yarn Barn sampler? For a State Dinner honoring French President Francois Hollande, Yosses made not lady fingers but Vermont maple syrup fudge, lavender shortbread cookies and cotton candy dusted with orange zest Tiny cookies: Mrs. Obama has pushed for smaller dessert portions during official White House dinner events

But the 20 percent solution won't cut it anymore.

Mrs. Obama said in a statement that she is 'grateful to him for his outstanding work, not just as the White House pastry chef, producing the most delectable creations for everything from birthday celebrations to state visits, but also as a key partner helping us get the White House kitchen garden off the ground and building a healthier future for our next generation.'

The 'Let's Move!' initiative has urged parents to give healthier habits to their children -- including changes in eating -- but more than 1 million schoolchildren have stopped buying school lunches since her directives changed what lunch ladies serve nationwide

Some of her activism has rubbed off on Yosses.



He's moving back to New York City in June to be with his husband and start educating children and adults about eating better – a mostly losing battle, as nanny-state Mayor Michael Bloomberg found out during his years in Gracie Mansion.



During a public forum on Google+ in November, he hinted that the president is more fond of pie crusts than with what's inside.

'Well, I don't want to reveal too much about the president's tastes or speculate about them,' he said.

'But, really, my impression is if you just served the crust, he'd be OK.'

Yosses contributed to an article in the book Desserts For Dummies titled 'How to salvage a dessert disaster,' writing about some of the 'cosmetic surgery' that he's had to perform over the years when his creations flopped in the kitchen.

For cakes that emerge from baking pans with holes in their sides, he says, ''before covering these problem areas with frosting, try picking cake remnants from the pan and reassembling and reattaching them to the sides of the cake.'

If parts of the edge of your pie fall off, 'use jam to glue the broken pieces back on.'



And for sponge cakes that won't stay in one well-shaped chunk, 'use the broken pieces to make English trifle or an improvised strawberry shortcake.'

