Obama 'cracks' a joke about the White House pie

WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- President Obama paid tribute to an outgoing member of his administration Monday at the LGBT Pride celebration at the White House that had the crowd wondering just what went into the desserts at the executive mansion.

White House pastry chef Bill Yosses, who has spent the past seven years tending to the first families' sweet tooth cravings, is leaving Washington to become a healthy eating advocate -- and to be closer to his husband in New York.

"I have to mention a man who's made life at the White House very sweet," the president said. "He's -- this is the problem. We call Bill the "Crustmaster" because his pies. I don't know what he does, whether he puts crack in them, or..."

As the audience laughed, first lady Michelle Obama cut him off.

"No he doesn't," she teased. "There's no crack in our pies."

The president said during his first year in office, his cholesterol shot up thanks to all the pie he'd eaten. He said they established "a really firm rule" after that: No pie during the week.

Yosses, who first came to the White House under President Bush, said Michelle Obama's healthy eating initiatives encouraged him down his new path.

"She has done it with humor and good will, without preaching, just the way you would hope the 'Mom in chief' would do," Yosses said of Obama's influence when he announced his departure. She is "definitely an inspiring boss, a combination of spontaneity and seriousness."