How did your career as a baker begin?
Standing on a stepstool and stirring a boxed brownie mix, in my parents’ kitchen! I’ve been a lifelong baker, but began baking “semi-professionally” when I started selling cakes out of my college apartment as a side-hustle in 2021. I learned a lot on the fly, but had also been pretty intensely recipe developing and self-teaching for my entire life. I’ve always just known that I love feeding people and baking.
Tell us about your nostalgic and colorful bakery in Fort Greene, Saint Street Cakes! What is the inspiration behind the design of the store and the type of cakes you create?
I’ve always been inspired by all-things vintage; my cake decorating style definitely comes from looking at my grandmother’s Wilton cookbooks from the 60s and 70s. I love color and fresh flowers, so those are integrated into the style as well. It’s so much fun to eat something that looks so cartoonish, but actually tastes great. As for the bakery, I’ve been building my own imaginary space since I was a kid. Since I started Saint Street (even before a brick and mortar felt remotely within the realm of possibility), my friends and family would spot cute, windowed restaurants and bakeries for lease and say “perfect spot for Morgan’s shop!” I knew I wanted something full of light, that felt like you were hanging out at your cool grandma’s house. All of the furniture is vintage, sourced from random shops/estate sales on road trips, and a lot of the decor inside came directly from my apartment, or is art created by friends of the bakery. While most of the decor has been collected over the past few years, a lot of the interior came together during construction when my parents would visit from LA. My mom is an interior designer and my dad a contractor, so I got really great advice making my dream a reality; we also just had so much fun building it as a family.
What’s your favorite part about the New York sustainable culinary community
Everyone I’ve met is so passionate about what they’re building. We’re a bakery with heart, and in a world full of “[insert mega-chain bakery name here]” dominating a lot of the culinary conversation, it’s so refreshing to meet other chefs bringing care and intentionality into what we do.
How did your beginnings baking in your small NYC kitchen while working a full time legal career inform how you work and create at the bakery today?
I spent the first three months after the bakery opened working 20 hours a day. I loved baking, but was so worried that I jumped ship from a very reliable career in law. I felt so lucky that the bakery was immediately really busy and high in demand, but was exhausted, stressed, and overwhelmed. Now that I’ve grown our team (who I love, and who are the backbone of Saint Street), and learned to go with the flow, I’m able to 1. sleep and 2. step back and appreciate that I get to spend every single day in a kitchen rather than a cubicle. We’re just over a year in, and I still feel this “pinch me” feeling that all of this is real. My career in law also definitely made me (on a practical level) really good at reading contracts and completing paperwork, which can be the less fun side of being a bakery owner. Starting when I did, I had to make a lot of really big decisions earlier than most people do; signing a 5-10 year lease on a bakery at 24 years old was never something I thought was possible. In terms of creation, I’ve developed all of my recipes at home; I want all of my recipes to translate to a realistic, average kitchen so other people can enjoy baking them too. I also feel most creative when baking at home, so it’s where I test out new flavors and concepts before they make it to the shop.
Do you have a favorite item on the bakery menu right now?
The fan fav is our Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie (which I love), but my favorite comes down to a tie. My favorite slice of cake we currently have is the Chocolate Ganache Cake. It’s extremely moist, surprisingly vegan layers chocolate cake, filled with a rich chocolate ganache made with coconut milk, and covered with chocolate buttercream. It’s truly a chocolate lover’s dream. My favorite item from the pastry case is the Lucky Lime Bar (a lime-twist on a traditional lemon bar with a shortbread crust). It’s so tart and refreshing; perfect for summer. All of our cake slices and most of our pastries rotate seasonally, so I have a new favorite every few months!
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