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'Mimi's Desserts' Brings Sweets to New Troy Avenue Shop in Crown Heights

 A new dessert shop, Mimi's Desserts, just opened at 1263 St. Johns Pl. in Crown Heights.
A new dessert shop, Mimi's Desserts, just opened at 1263 St. Johns Pl. in Crown Heights.
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Madison Gardner

CROWN HEIGHTS — A new Crown Heights dessert shop is about to make Troy Avenue a lot sweeter.

Mimi’s Desserts had its grand opening at 1263 St. Johns Pl. over the weekend, bringing “over-the-top” cookies, cupcakes, brownies, pies and cakes to its new location, said baker Madison Gardner.

The Austin, Texas, native has been baking as a hobby for years and gave up a career working for tech startups when she connected last year with co-owner Daniel Ruffin, a longtime Crown Heights resident who dreamed of opening a bakery like his uncle, who ran a sweet shop in Bedford-Stuyvesant when he was a kid, Gardner said.

Now, the pair have teamed up to give the dessert business a shot. Ruffin named the new shop after his 6-year-old daughter, Mimi.

“All of our sweets are Mimi-approved,” Gardner said.

Menu items include mango coconut cheesecake, birthday cake-flavored cupcakes, half-brownie-half-cookie treats called “brookies,” traditional chocolate chip cookies, custom cakes and seasonal flavors like eggnog cupcakes, she said.

Currently, the store is open 12 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, serving mostly takeout orders, though there are a few bar stools for those who want snacks to stay.

A table decorated with real rainbow sprinkles and white fur-covered seats serves as Mimi's sit-down options. Co-owner Gardner says the Ruffin family wanted the store "to feel like you’re inside of a cupcake." (Photo credit: Madison Gardner)

Eventually, the co-owners hope to expand the menu and hours, bringing coffee and Austin-style breakfast tacos to the shop, as well.

“I want to do some grab-and-go,” Gardner said. “That’s what I grew up with. I just need breakfast tacos at all times.”

Prices at Mimi’s range from $2 for a cookie to $3.50 for a slice of cheesecake with higher prices for whole pies and cakes. For more information, visit the shop’s website at mimisdesserts.org.