For Women’s History Month, we here on Myrtle Avenue are celebrating local women who make positive impacts in our community. Click here to reach the profiles of all the local women who have been featured in our annual Women’s History Month campaign.
Kym Rodgers of Fort Greene’s Brooklyn Sweet Spot. Photo by Aundre Larrow.
Kym Rodgers
There are a lot of women (and secrets!) behind the story of how Myrtle Avenue’s go-to cupcake and baked goods shop came to be. Owner and baker Kym Rodgers chalks up her passion for baking and ability to know good taste from her grandmother and aunts who taught her the traditions of Southern dessert baking.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Kym spent most of her childhood summers visiting her family in the Low Country of South Carolina. Spending nights there sitting on the front porch with her grandmother, she tasted firsthand how good desserts – pies, cakes, biscuits – could delight and make a moment special. And it was her grandmother’s cakes that were particularly memorable, but they included an ingredient that her grandmother typically kept top secret. When Kym spent one of those summer days as a teenager learning how to make her grandmother’s cake recipe, her grandmother revealed her secret and unusual ingredient, but Kym didn’t pay it too much mind.
The Rosalie cupcake, pictured with its namesake and Kym’s grandmother, Rosalie.
UNLOCKING FAMILY SECRETS
After Kym grew up a little and found herself in her early 20’s, she was longing for her grandmother’s notorious cake. As she attempted to replicate the recipe, it just kept falling short. Then, pulling deep from her memories, she remembered that one secret ingredient. After running to the store to pick it up, she tossed it into the batter and voila! It tasted like it came right from her grandmother’s kitchen.
Unfortunately for us, Kym is keeping that ingredient top secret. But the good news is, you can taste the special recipe yourself at Brooklyn Sweet Spot where she still uses her grandmother’s recipe and where her signature cupcake is named in honor of her – the Rosalie.
A similar secret ingredient story also surrounds the shop’s popular banana pudding recipe. This time it was Kym’s aunt who had the best banana pudding recipe around, and after some stealth moves in the kitchen during prep for a family reunion, Kym was able to see what her secret ingredient was.
LET THEM EAT CAKE
Luckily for us, Kym unlocked these secrets and turned them into her much-loved community bakery. After first opening her doors on Myrtle Avenue in 2010, Kym reflects on her past nine years here simply saying, “I love Myrtle Avenue.” And Kym, we love you (and your desserts!) right back.
