Preparation of the 2006 "Red and White" Gingerbread House

In this photograph, taken by Shealah Craighead in 2006, former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier pours coverture chocolate into a cone as part of the preparations for the assembly of the "Red and White" gingerbread house in the China Room. Mesnier and his team piped coverture chocolate against the walls of the house to support its structural foundation. Mesnier's career at the White House began in 1979. He retired in 2004, but returned at the request of First Lady Laura Welch Bush to create the "Red and White" gingerbread house for the 2006 holiday season. Mesnier and his team decorated the gingerbread White House with more than 850 snowflakes and red bows made from royal icing.