Saint Street Cakes
Bakery · Fort Greene
86 S Portland Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217, USA
Highlights
Custom cakes, slices, cookies, and cake martinis
Custom cakes, slices, cookies, and cake martinis
"Saint Street Cakes started as an online cake business, taking custom orders for martini-themed birthday cakes, and tiered beauties that look like they belong in an enchanted forest. They now have a brick-and-mortar in the space that was once home to Dinner Party. Custom cakes will still be available, but there will also be cake by the slice for a sweet treat in Fort Greene." - will hartman, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, sonal shah, bryan kim
"For far too long, cake was only for birthdays. Maybe a 50th anniversary party. But at Saint Street Cakes in Fort Greene, cake is for whenever you damn please. The online cake business turned brick-and-mortar makes mini cakes piped with frosting roses, and towering slices of double chocolate berry cake with jam tucked between each layer. You can still order a custom cake online (one time, the owner was asked to top a cake with Calico Critters, so dream big), but visiting the shop and ordering one more treat than you really need is more fun." - will hartman, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, bryan kim, sonal shah
"Opened in Fort Greene at 86 South Portland Avenue (near Lafayette Avenue) on Wednesday, June 25, this bakery evolved from an Instagram cake business Knight started in 2021 after pivoting from political science and law—she studied those fields in college, interned at the U.S. attorney’s office during the pandemic, worked as a paralegal, and ultimately decided to go all-in on cakes in October 2023. Reflecting on her early inspirations, she says, "I loved seeing something drawn as a cartoon and being like, 'That is what I want to make.'" The menu is simple, offering cake slices and other baked goods; Knight’s cakes, as she describes them, "lean on the moister and denser side" and are "not too sweet" while still laden with house-made buttercream. Slices include almond cakes with pistachio-lemon buttercream; carrot cake with cream cheese frosting; and double-chocolate cake with berries and chocolate buttercream. There are also miniature cakes and, yes, "cake martinis— trifle-esque layers of cake and frosting in a large stemmed cocktail glass." She sells a mix of premade cakes as well as custom orders. Stylistically her work favors a more classic, old-school, wedding cake piping style—distinct from a wave of goopier, wackier cakes that dominate online—and Instagram cake makers are now so en vogue there's even a whole magazine devoted to them. The shop also offers other baked goods like salted chocolate chip cookies, lemonade-lavender loaves, and miso peanut butter cookies, and as she puts it, "American dessert classics but with some fun mixtures in there." Knight is particularly proud of the vegan and gluten-free offerings—like the Girlfriend brownie (named as a play on its lack of gluten)—and emphasizes technique and ingredient-forward baking: "Letting chocolate exist and be the main star of the show is something that I just really love," she says. "A good quality chocolate just tastes so good, and it’s a really interesting thing to try to build upon it. Gluten-free desserts thrive when they’re entirely flourless [...] things that are amazing not despite the fact that they’re gluten-free, but because they just happen to be." The space includes a view of the cake decorating station, a pastry case with a counter, and a small sunroom with a few dine-in tables; drinks include coffee, teas, and refrigerated beverages, and Knight plans to add weekend tea parties. Her business grew to the point of baking for brands like Tory Burch and being commissioned to make the cakes that pop star Olivia Rodrigo smashed on Saturday Night Live, as well as an album celebration cake for Suki Waterhouse. Wanting broader access and more community, she notes, "It’s been hard to grapple with the [fact] that the only way that someone could try anything I made was if they had like upwards of $100 to spend on a cake," and she cites "the community aspect of it and food bringing people together" as a driving reason for opening a storefront. She describes the overall vibe as "a cool artsy grandma with a lot of stories," combining "the welcoming nature of what cake is, then mixed with really classic flavors and a really funky exterior. It’s just making cakes that taste as good as they look." - Nadia Chaudhury
"For far too long, cake was pretty much reserved for birthdays. But at Saint Street Cakes in Fort Greene, cake is for whenever you damn please. The online cake business turned brick-and-mortar makes mini cakes piped with frosting roses, and towering slices of double chocolate berry cake with jam tucked between each layer. You can still order a custom cake online, but visiting the shop and ordering one more treat than you really need is more fun." - willa moore, will hartman, molly fitzpatrick, sonal shah
"For far too long, cake was only for birthdays. Maybe a 50th anniversary party. But at Saint Street Cakes in Fort Greene, cake is for whenever you damn please. The online cake business turned brick-and-mortar (appropriately decorated with framed drawings of cakes) makes mini cakes piped with frosting roses, and towering slices of double chocolate berry cake with jam tucked between each layer. You can still order a custom cake online (one time, the owner was asked to top a cake with Calico Critters, so dream big), but visiting the shop and ordering one more treat than you really need is more fun. Come for a hefty slice of carrot cake and leave with a gooey chocolate chip cookie, and a cake martini too. They’re served in a tall (plastic) glass and topped with a fondant martini olive, and they’ll catch your eye as soon as you step inside. photo credit: Willa Moore photo credit: Britt Lam photo credit: Maddie Knight Pause Unmute Food Rundown Mini Cakes If you need a cake to bring to a little birthday gathering, the $30 mini cakes are the way to go. (They also sell larger cakes.) There’s a bunch of differently decorated ones to choose from, so take a few minutes to decide if you’d like the one with tiny flowers, the one with a strawberry, or the one with pink squiggles and pearls. Double Chocolate Berry Slice This is what you get if you're just in the market for a casual slice. (More casual slices!) It’s ridiculously moist, with thick layers of berry jam and frosting between each layer. photo credit: Willa Moore Cake Martinis These aren’t just fun to look at, although they are very fun to look at. Sort of like a cake pop, but with a lot more frosting, and very high-quality cake scraps. photo credit: Britt Lam Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie The chocolate chip cookie is one of those gooey ones, with chocolate that oozes even hours after baking, and lots of flaky salt on top. photo credit: Britt Lam Girlfriend Brownie It's gluten-free, and it tastes like a flourless chocolate cake and a boxed brownie realized they'd be better together. Lavender Lemonade Loaf We like the tart lemonade glaze, but the loaf itself is a little dense, and the lavender taste leans perfumey." - Willa Moore
