Kate Sullivan of Cake Power: This Month’s Featured Entrepreneur
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING IN NYC?
– Forever : ) I was born in Brooklyn, have lived in every borough except the Bronx, and now live in Manhattan for the last 15 years.
WHAT’S YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD AND WHY?
-For me, its a little like trying to choose your favorite kid. I still have a huge affinity for Brooklyn Heights. I used to live just a few blocks from the base of the Brooklyn Bridge for a long time (definitely one of the most magical places I know), before getting married and moving to the city. I also love The Flatiron District and Chelsea, where we live now, a quick walk from the Highline and the waterfront.
HOW AND WHEN DID CAKE POWER BEGIN?
–Cake Power was born about the same time as my son, 11 years ago. I’d already been making cakes as a second job for about 10 years before that when the original name of the business was LovinSullivanCakes.
DESCRIBE YOUR COMPANY’S IDEOLOGY.
-Everything is designed to be very much one of a kind. One of the big inspirations for starting the business was Laura Esquivel’s book, Like Water for Chocolate. We work with a very hands on and loving the details kind of approach. Cakes can gain access to most of our senses. Not only is there this lovely visual impact but the smell and taste can get to you on a visceral level making
particularly memorable associations tying together sweet moments form childhood, birthdays and weddings.
WHAT’S YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE OFFERING?
-I’ve always been a big fan of the basics. Straight up chocolate and vanilla made with great quality fresh ingredients, often with a little bit of an additional twist of texture, like a caramelized crunch, a touch or sea salt or silky truffle ganache. That said, passionfruit has been making its way into more and more of our cakes these days.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR CAKE POWER?
-I’m working on a new collection of wedding cakes featuring Flora and Fauna motifs that are hand sculpted out of white chocolate.
WHAT ARE THE GREATEST CHALLENGES AND REWARDS OF BEING A SMALL BUSINESS IN NYC?
–There’s so much opportunity for doing wildly fun and interesting projects in this city. We get to do cakes for galleries, celebrities, galas, book parties and fashion events with crazy over the top features like confetti cannons and motors; and of course birthdays and weddings!
The challenge is that it can get very hectic very quickly.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NYC BASED CHARITY AND WHY?
– I love Icing Smiles . This organization provides custom cakes for families of kids suffering from life-threatening conditions. Its amazing to see what a difference a special cake can make as a temporary escape from worry, faces lit up with excitement and how it creates a positive memory during an impossibly difficult time. In New York City the deliveries are often made to children staying far from home at places like the Ronald MacDonald House and Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital.
IF YOU HAD ONLY ONE DAY LEFT IN NYC, HOW WOULD YOU SPEND IT?
– Start: Magically delicious cup of coffee at Toby’s Estate on 5th Ave. It shares a storefront with an out-post of the Strand bookstore and my favorite florist, Polux (a great trifecta!) I’d eat at ABC Kitchen. I’d wander. I’d get my self downtown near the water, and to the new Whitney Museum and watch the sunset. Unless it was a Monday night in the summertime. Then we’d stop at Stinky Cheesefor sandwiches, spread out a blanket on the lawn at Bryant park to watch a movie under the stars surrounded by trees, ringed by skyscrapers, in view of the Empire State Building; (cut to opening of Woody Allen’s Manhattan). I might want to wrap it up at Karaoke One 7 and hope that Bill Murray crashes our get together.
Mention Code: FIND10 and Receive 10% off
a wedding cake order