January 2021
“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” ~Thomas Keller I’ve always believed that how I spend my money is how I cast a vote. Voting happens everyday with every swipe, venmo, keypad press, coin purse scramble and the pass off of crumpled bills. Money earned is energy spent. The dollar is an IOU note for your services and time. When you give your money to a company you are voting for their survival and prosperity, as you are giving them a representation of the time that you spent to earn that note. As Americans, we’ve become supreme leaders of consuming and creating all things fast and cheap, as it is, above all else, CONVENIENT. This is a mistake. When I walked into Kimmy’s home, it had been the first time that we’d seen each other in well over a year. I sat down, at her island prep station and awkwardly pulled out my voice recorder. It was my first interview of this kind, and with all there was to catch up on and learn about her new confectionery world, I didn’t want to miss a beat. She chuckled in her infectious way and off we went down the rabbit hole. Among the shimmer of sugar and plumes of wafting butter floating through her kitchen, it was her relaxed and warm way of going about her work that made the experience a sweet one. “Would you like a snack?” She asked. I was delighted to be served freshly made macarons, crisp on the initial nip and chewy through the center. Glowing and freshly baked apple cider donuts danced their way to me, warm from the baking sheet. I was living my dream (taste testing, of course). Kimmy presented me with one other magical morsel; a substantial, yet fluffed, vanilla cupcake crowned by a whip of her personal favorite, swiss meringue buttercream. It was unlike any other icing that I’ve ever had. It was satiny and glossy, not overly sweet, yet, decadent. I was hooked. It, by contrast to it’s American cousin, is all but fast and cheap to create. “How do you do it?” I asked. “Which part?” “All of it.” I replied. For the very first time ever, I witnessed her creations from the batter up. Soft and stiff peaks of swiss meringue buttercream crested, cakes layered like tectonic plates, icings and pigments blended together to coat the cake like a canvas with oil painting knives; even the delicate art of boxing and preparing for pick up occurred during my time with her, seemingly all at once. I gazed, enthralled, as she poured balmy chocolate ganache over a 3 layer cake, forming a hardshell. Her collection of tools, gadgets, colors, sprinkles, sparkles, jimmies, candies, swirls, flowers and flavors is reminiscent of the potion master’s arsenal at Hogwarts. Tasting, chatting and giggling for two and a half hours, I learned that the concept of Kimmy More Sweets was the product of having been told NO. “I had a summer job down the shore about 10 years ago at an Acme in the bakery department. It was over the summer after senior year and I had a lot of fun cake decorating and having access to fun tools like airbrushes. But once I came home, I just kind of stopped.” Flash forward to just a few short years ago, Kimmy wanted a super special cake for her daughter Vivian’s first birthday (currently 2.5 years old). Kimmy contacted a well known local cake maker by recommendation, that she deemed “The Cake Lady of Philly”. To Kimmy’s initial disappointment, The Cake Lady of Philly couldn’t make the cake in time. It was then that we hit the point of no return in our story of Kimmy More Sweets because that is when Kimmy decided to make it on her own. After a few youtube videos and some Amazon orders later, Vivian’s cake was made. A vivid and bursting rainbow wrapped layer cake, molded as a unicorn came from this NO. Her daughter’s first birthday was ALSO a gender reveal for their second child, Wyatt, as well as a surprise wedding for her and her partner, Rob (but that is a WHOLE other beautiful story..) Kimmy had actually put her tools down for another entire year until it was time for Wyatt’s first birthday. She figured she could make Wyatt’s cake and turn homemade birthday cakes into a fun tradition for her family. But Wyatt’s dinosaur cake stirred up a big batch of ideas with her friends and family. “Can you make a cake for me?” “People would pay for these.” In August of 2020, two cakes quickly became four. By November, she crushed forty one, which does not include any of her other creations like cupcakes, macarons and now cocoa bombs, among many treats. All it took was 10 years, a NO, a forgotten joy, a spark of creativity, unexpected votes of confidence and a little research for her to create her home bakery business. “Kimmy, what do you want people to know?” I asked. She thought for a moment and simply said, “It is worth it to buy a cake from a home baker or bakery rather than a large chain. You’ll taste the thoughtfulness. People [the bakers] are doing this [operating a small business ] for a reason. It means something when you get to know someone. Secondly- celebrate your birthday!” I agree! Celebrate your birthday because you will always remember that pink and purple triple chocolate three layer cake for your 11th birthday during quarantine when only 5 people could come to your party but you need to have this amazing cake because your life is over.... (Real cake, real 11 year old girl, real awesome mom that got that cake.) I vote for small businesses. I vote for their NO’s to be YES’s. I vote for the rainbow unicorn cake, handmade macarons, baked (not fried) apple cider donuts, swiss meringue buttercream and knowing my baker’s story as well as her first name. Visit @KimmyMoreSweets on instagram and check out her website www.kimmymoresweets.com
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