The Sweet Stuff (TSS) is an at-home business located in Christiansted, offering Virgin Islands desserts such as benyes, red grout, sweetbread, and tarts: coconut, guava, pineapple, and guavaberry (seasonal), as well as bundt and custom cakes. Born out of pure nostalgia, TSS is a manifestation of memories of my upbringing on St. Croix.

In 2013, after my daughter graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando, she came home to St. Croix to visit and began receiving orders for cakes and cupcakes. As I helped her prep for orders, I remembered my childhood days in the kitchen with my late maternal grandmother, Florita Petersen (affectionately known as Mudda or Mrs. Florie), so I got her recipes from my aunt. When I made my very first batch of tarts using Mudda’s recipe, nostalgia immediately took over. My six-year old self was right back in the kitchen with Mudda smelling and sampling all the delicious desserts she made. Six-year old Xaia was also in the kitchen with Mudda, showing an interest in baking. All through school, when I asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up, she always said, to bake.

TSS has one goal: to make cakes and local desserts, just like Mudda used to make!