Beloved Harlem Cakeshop Opens New Bakery, Coffee Shop On 125th

HARLEM, NY — The newest arrival on Harlem's main drag is a familiar face for many in the neighborhood: Make My Cake, which has catered to countless birthdays and weddings over 25 years in business, has opened a new bakery and coffee shop on 125th Street.

Owner Aliyyah Baylor cut the ribbon on Saturday, Juneteenth, at her new location at 409 West 125th St., near Morningside Avenue.

In addition to the third location of Make My Cake, the storefront also includes "I Like It Black" — a cafe focused on Black- and Latinx-owned coffee roasters. (The coffee shop has been open since February.)

Baylor founded Make My Cake in 1995 along with her mother, Joann Baylor, opening a location on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard near West 139th Street. They later opened a second shop on the Upper West Side near West 97th Street.

"Growing up in Harlem, 125th Street was our Main Street of Black America," Baylor said in a news release, adding that she drew inspiration from bygone Black-owned bakeries like Georgie's and Wimp's.

Opening the shop on Juneteenth, Baylor added, was "a very liberating experience."

The new shop came together more than a year ago, when Baylor signed a lease for the 125th Street space that could be divided into two stores, she told Eater in February. A bakery employee suggested adding "a cafe for the neighborhood," and the dual business was born.

The storefront at 409 West 125th St. was formerly home to the Ecumenical Community Development Organization.

Those in attendance for the Juneteenth ribbon-cutting included Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who presented a proclamation dubbing Saturday "Make My Cake Day."