Over the years, Kyrsta Cue has gone from shopper to vendor at the Bixby Knolls Farmers Market, running the Cue Bakeshop stall every Thursday to sell her baked goods for a little over half a year.
“I just really want to build more clientele in my community,” Cue said. “Because we’re very much community-based, and I want [people to know] I’m from here locally and this is a local business.”
Cue’s grandmother began teaching her how to bake when she was 3 years old. By the time she was attending Hughes Middle School, she was recording herself baking cakes in cooking show-style videos. Cue would later hand out slices of her creations to schoolmates.
She combined her love of baking with her natural business savvy while attending Polytechnic High School, where she clandestinely sold cookies out of her backpack to fellow students.
After losing her job and leaving an abusive relationship over a year ago, Cue started pursuing her baking business full time.
Her experiences as a survivor inspired Cue Bakeshop’s motto, “Protect The Cookie.”
“We’re here to protect the cookie, and my cookie, it’s my peace, it’s my power, it’s my strength,” Cue said. ”It’s all these things that I had to regain as I started going to my DV (domestic violence) group.”
Cue has big plans for her business’ future, and hopes to be successful enough to make donations to nonprofits and provide jobs and other resources for survivors of domestic violence through Cue Bakeshop.
A matcha blondie made by Cue Bakshop, made using green matcha tea powder, brown butter and white chocolate. (Courtesy of Kyrsta Cue) 
Kyrsta Cue stands in front of the stall for Cue Bakeshop. (Courtesy of Kyrsta Cue) 
A sticker depicting Cue Bakeshop’s motto “Protect The Cookie,” inspired by owner Kyrsta Cue’s experience as a survivor of domestic violence. (Courtesy of Kyrsta Cue)
She began her business endeavors by participating in pop-ups around Los Angeles before bringing her brand back to Long Beach.
“I’m like ‘I’m in Long Beach, I need to build a presence in Long Beach,'” Cue said. “When I have a storefront this is where I want to be, so let me become a part of the Bixby Knolls market. I grew up going there. I went to school at Longfellow and Hughes. So it was just like, ‘Oh, this is home.'”
Cue Bakeshop’s menu contains classic options such as snickerdoodle, oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies and unique creations like matcha blondies and the chocolatey yet refreshing “encourage mint.” Cue takes inspiration from old family recipes and other baker’s recipes, tweaking them to suit her own tastes and those of her customers.
According to Cue, the shop’s best sellers include the chocolate chip cookies, with or sans walnuts, as well as the newly released matcha blondie.
The golden brown chocolate chip cookies boast a generous ratio of chocolate chips embedded in them. The sweetness of the cookie is countered by a light sprinkling of sea salt on top, a welcome balance for the decadent flavors.
The matcha blondie, which has quickly become a crowd pleaser at the Bixby Knolls Farmers Market, combines matcha green tea powder, brown butter and white chocolate.
Although the green squares are currently one of the most popular items, they almost didn’t make it onto the menu.
“I did not love [the matcha blondies] but I let a friend taste my samples and he loved it and then I tested it, people loved it […] it’s a crowd favorite … and I learned it’s not about me, it’s all about the people,” Cue said.
Cue Bakeshop is at the Bixby Knolls Farmers Market, located at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue & E 46th Street, on Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m. Follow the shop on its Instagram for more updates, @cuebakeshop.
