This Black-owned bakery in Iowa makes world's best cinnamon rolls
(This feature is developed in partnership with The Seven Times, a multi-media platform elevating small Black-owned businesses in Iowa, Chicago and California — and soon, more states and locations. This story first appeared in The Seven Times.)
DES MOINES, Iowa —
Elisha King and Tyondra Boagard will bag up their delectable home-made cinnamon rolls for customers around Iowa and watch them depart the booths of farmer's markets and events around Iowa.
But they provide forks for a reason. They don't want people to leave right away.
The founders of Des Moines-based LeeTy Delights never grow weary of seeing the reaction from first-time customers who taste one of their more than 40 flavors of cinnamon rolls — from banana pudding cinnamon rolls to blueberry to peach cobbler to S'more's and even a Tres Leche cinnamon roll.
It's love at first bite — LeeTy's catch phrase or motto. And witnessing sweet-toothed Iowans break into broad, toothy, smiles after forking in the first bites of the rolls is a thrill for these entrepreneurs, says King.
"It's really, really hard work," King said. "It is not for the weak. But at the end of the day it is very rewarding because the smiles that it gives on my customers' faces is life for me, is everything for me. The happiness that I bring to them makes me happy."
Please read the rest of the story at The Seven Times.
And order cinnamon rolls from LeeTy for delivery by clicking here.
(Douglas Burns, a fourth-generation Iowa journalist from Carroll, is a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Read dozens of the most talented writers in Iowa in just one place. The Iowa Writers' Collaborative spans the full state. It’s one of the biggest things going in Iowa journalism and writing now — and you don’t want to miss. This collaborative is — as the outstanding Quad Cities journalist Ed Tibbetts says — YOUR SUNDAY IOWA newspaper. Please follow other writers on the roster below. )