http://www.sweetjazmines.com/

James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Madison Magazine - Summer 2008 - Index

Lights
The professors, students
[Kim Davis Cuthbert]
Sweet Jazmines
From Easy Bake Oven to award-winning pastries By Colleen Dixon
do you know what
B i l l C o s b y ’ s
favorite dessert
is? Most of
us wouldn’t be
able to answer
that question,
but pastry chef Kim davis Cuthbert
(’92) can. For a week before Christmas
1998 she worked in Cosby’s
Massachusetts home preparing desserts.
“Mr. Cosby loves a basic apple
pie,” says Cuthbert, a 1992 graduate
of the Culinary institute of america.
“i remember being so pleased that
he liked my pie enough to put a sign
on it saying ‘this pie is mine, do not
touch.’ He and his family were very
kind to me.”
Cuthbert’s exposure to cooking
began at an early age. she enjoyed
using her easy Bake oven and
watching both of her parents in the
kitchen. “My mom was a great gourmet cook, as long as she
didn’t stray from the recipes,” Cuthbert says. “My dad was also
a great cook who could just feel his way through the kitchen.
They both gave me a love of cooking and baking.”
JMU students with the great fortune to share a suite with
Cuthbert were recipients
‘All your senses
come alive when
you are having a
pleasurable eating
experience.’
— Kim Davis Cuthbert (’92)
photographs courtesy of kim davis cuthbert (’92)
“My son, Jordan, wants to grow up so he can be my
baker helper,” says Cuthbert, who designed her
Sweet Jazmines logo based on an image of her son.
of her growing culinary
talents. “i would make
sunday brunch for my
suitemates,” she says. “We
would have home fries,
scrambled eggs and French
toast.” not the sparse fare
normally associated with
college life.
and alumni who shine in
Madison’s constellation
Cuthbert was a member of JMU’s
Black student Union and the delta
sigma Pi professional fraternity.
The business administration major
realized that she enjoyed baking
and pastry more than anything. she
opened sweet Jazmines Pastry shop
in 1999 and chose to specialize in
elaborate wedding cakes, scrumptious
cheesecakes and other mouth-watering
desserts. Cuthbert says “i cook
for my taste and hope that the masses
also enjoy the food.” The masses have
answered with a hearty “Yum.” Philly
Magazine awarded sweet Jazmines
“Best of Philly” awards in 2000 and
2001 for custom desserts and cheesecakes.
Main Line Today magazine
awarded sweet Jazmines 2001 and
2003 “Best of the Main Line” awards
for cheesecakes and desserts.
The name of Cuthbert’s shop is a
clever blend of several ideas. “There’s
sweet, which is obvious, and Jazmines, which is a blend of the
jasmine flower and jazz. all your senses come alive when you
are having a pleasurable eating experience,” explains Cuthbert.
she currently has two full-time pastry chefs and employs
after-school assistants. Customers can’t get enough of the sweet
treats this team produces. Cheesecakes in a multitude of tempting
flavors like bananas foster and white chocolate cappuccino
fly out the door, as do brownies filled with a ganache of flavors
like homemade caramel. other successful creations include
out-of-the-ordinary muffins. “our ever-popular sweet potato
muffins have a triple sec cinnamon glaze,” Cuthbert says. “We
also make pumpkin orange muffins and pear ginger muffins
with a ginger glaze.” M
Tempted? Check out Sweet Jazmines’ prizewinning pastries at
www.sweetjazmines.com/.
sUMMeR 2008
25