The newest sensation to hit the dessert market, Kingston Minicakes is starting a cupcake revolution powered by the dreams of two Jamaican beauties. Founded in October of 2010, Kingston Minicakes specializes in cupcakes or as they call them 'minicakes' because they are simply more fun. Started by friends Angella Blair and Ramona Phipps-Porter, Kingston Minicakes caters to the needs of everyone’s sw
eet tooth. Ramona describes how the company got started saying, “we both were thinking of doing our own baking business and we would always be talking about recipes and exchanging ideas until we decided why not do it together as a team.”
The idea to specialize in cupcakes came from watching TLC’s hit series ‘DC Cupcakes’, about two sisters who started a cupcake business in Washington DC. “It came to us that Jamaica doesn’t have a cupcake store so why not bring it here,” Angella said. The two got together and after a rigorous session came up with their ‘mini-suspects’, their regular flavors of vanilla, chocolate, carrot, coconut, strawberry, red velvet and vegan. From there it was unto ‘testing’ their products working out of Angella’s home in Red Hills, Kingston, Jamaica. While the idea is one that has been tried across the world, the girls have brought their own flavor to ‘Kingston Minicakes’ tailoring it to their Jamaican heritage. Angella said, “we use a lot of local products like Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, coconut and local spices. We also have a lot of friends who are vegans so we tried to tailor make cupcakes for them as well which is healthier for the wider public.”
According to Ramona the two work well together having a shared passion for cupcakes and baking. Ramona is the outspoken one who loves to organize and is the “kitchen nazi” while Angella is the more easy going one who assists and is skilled at decorating. “We work well together, we have different personalities yet we complement each other,” Ramona added. Now catering for special events and for persons who want a little cupcake in their life, Angella and Ramona hope to within a year open their own store in Kingston. From there it’s unto bigger and better things for the ‘minicakes’. Ramona added, “The dream is to be in all fourteen parishes in several locations each, we want to be accessible to everyone. To bring a little cupcake fun and excitement to Jamaica and start a new way of looking at dessert.”