Sweet Temptation

Yasmine Bleeth holds an enormous platter of fruit as the photographer captures her reaction to the enticing arrangement of luscious pineapple and berries. "These blackberries are perfect!" she says. "They are fabulous, so fresh, I mean...heaven." After a while the overflowing tray becomes heavy. Playfully the actress considers balancing it on her head, and she banters about her aching arm and food. "I just read that chocolate in moderation is good for you," she jokes. "Why didn’t they ask me? I knew it all along!" She’s not kidding. Although Bleeth is arguably best known for her role as a lifeguard on Baywatch, she’s also an accomplished chef who loves to cook — and eat. "Food is one of the great pleasures of life. Our family celebrates everything as long as there is eating involved," she says. Cooking has always been important to Bleeth, who grew up in New York City watching Julia Child on The French Chef and Graham Kerr on The Galloping Gourmet instead of cartoons. She learned her way around the kitchen and developed an eclectic international palate thanks to her grandmothers — French–North African on Mom’s side and Russian-German-Jewish on Dad’s.

"My grandmothers both made me feel like food is love," Bleeth explains. "I liked to cook more than my parents did. I think it skipped a generation. I was in the kitchen since I was a little girl saying, ‘Please, let me help.’ I was the pesky one trying to get my fingers in everything. I always wanted to be the one to chop and stir." She still does. In the summer she invites friends for casual, "last-minute throw-together barbecue kind of things," she says. "People stop by and you feed them whatever you have." There was a time when Bleeth even considered opening a catering business, but she worried that she’d eat all the merchandise and that her perfectionism would get in the way. "I’m picky about food because I know too much about how really good meals are made," she says.

Besides, Bleeth seemed destined for show business. At six months old she made her television debut in a Johnson & Johnson commercial — the only time she’s been naked on camera, she jokingly points out. Bleeth appeared in TV ads throughout her childhood and at 17 landed a part in the soap opera Ryan’s Hope. Roles on One Life to Live and, of course, Baywatch followed. For the past two years she’s heated up the set of Nash Bridges, and this fall her new series, Titans, debuts. Produced by Aaron Spelling, it’s set in a world of wealth and power, so gorgeous clothes and steamy clinches with costar Casper Van Dien are a safe bet.

But at this moment, with the photo shoot behind her, a famished Bleeth is thrilled to sit down to lunch at the famous restaurant Spago Beverly Hills before getting a cooking lesson from Sherry Yard, the restaurant’s renowned pastry chef. She digs into a lobster cobb salad, savoring every bite. "My pals make fun of me because as I’m eating breakfast in the morning, I’m sort of planning out what lunch and dinner are going to be," Bleeth confesses. "Maybe even planning what I’m going to have the following day." This time of year her meal decisions are easy. "When the weather changes and it’s hot out, I just want fruit and vegetables and things as fresh as possible."

Fruit is a particular summer favorite. "I like mint and lemon and almost anything that’s citrusy. I also love mangoes and cold watermelon." On trips to the Hamptons, a Long Island vacation area, she likes to pick strawberries. "And I always stop for the new corn on the side of the road," she says. Bleeth nixes one traditional seasonal ritual: picnics. "I’m an indoor, no-bugs kind of girl," she says. "Now if you have a nice balcony or a sundeck, I’ll be there."

Her salad devoured, Bleeth is introduced to Yard. Together they’ll make an elegant dessert called Pavlova. The two women head into the restaurant’s bustling kitchen, where the utensils and ingredients are waiting. A smitten sous-chef whispers that if someone as beautiful as Bleeth showed up every day, Spago’s kitchen staff would never get any work done.

Yard hands Bleeth a large copper bowl and an industrial-size whisk. Bleeth’s first task is to fluff up egg whites (another arm workout!). The chef rubs the empty copper bowl with lemon juice to stiffen the whites — a trick that’s no news to Bleeth. Yard sprinkles in a little powdered sugar and soon the egg whites form perfect peaks. The meringue mixture is put into a pastry bag and then piped onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in a lattice design. Yard’s skill show — the pro’s creation is more polished than Bleeth’s — but Bleeth takes it in stride. "I wanted mine to look homey," the actress says with a wink. After popping the tray into the oven, the women turn to the prebaked shells and the next step in the recipe. Yard has prepared a dulce de leche cream made from condensed milk to which Bleeth adds whipped cream. After stirring the mixture, Bleeth scoops it into the shell and tops the dessert with berries.

"It’s yummy and gorgeous, but forget about eating it daintily," Bleeth says, taking a bite. "It crumbles." No matter. Her efforts and the experience are deemed a triumph. "I once got to cook with Emeril Lagasse and now Sherry Yard. It’s like meeting my idols," she says. Bleeth, who right now is unattached, claims that culinary skills are part of her allure. "I gotta tell you, every man who’s ever fallen in love with me — not that I’m saying too many men have fallen in love with me — but you ask them. They fell hard the minute I cooked a meal for them. I’m telling you, it’s the way to a man’s heart. No doubt."