Lifestyle
Hair Health, 7 Dessert Recipes: A Sweet Miss Jessie’s Inspired Menu
Veteran Miss Jessie’s fans may be familiar with the origin of the brand and where the company’s namesake is derived from, but allow me to fill in the newly coronated Miss Jessie’s Curly Queens, on where the company really began. Miss Jessie was the paternal grandmother of Miss Jessie’s co-founders, Miko and Titi Branch. As the children of two hard working parents, Miko and Titi spent much of their childhood with their grandmother, and under her tutelage, the sisters cultivated the foundational knowledge which ultimately led them to developing the Miss Jessie’s brand. Miss Jessie taught her granddaughters proper etiquette, beauty and fashion tips, and how to cook. She also gave the girls a solid education the abstract life lessons required for survival, including resourcefulness, independence, and self confidence. Miss Jessie often came up with her own curly styling concoctions in the kitchen, using items out of her pantry as a means to tame young Titi and Miko’s naturally curly manes.
“The biggest thing Miss Jessie taught us was how to identify a need or a problem, then find a solution. ‘ Just look around you,’ she’d tell us, ‘All you need is right there at your fingertips. If you just use your common sense, you will get it.’”
— From Miss Jessie’s: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch—Naturally
Miko and Titi’s time with their grandmother, Miss Jessie, laid the foundation for the sister’s unrelenting, no nonsense work ethic, and their knack for ingenuity. When Miko and Titi’s salon customers inquired about the possibility of offering curly styling hair care and products, Miko and Titi tackled this problem with full force, and following the lead of their grandmother Miss Jessie, they brought their styling solution experimentation, back to the kitchen. It was here that Miko and Titi cracked the formula code on their first product, Curly Pudding, and the rest is history.
“The night Titi interrupted my sleep, she introduced me to what would become Curly Pudding, our first breakthrough hair-care product. […] Over the next few years, Curly Pudding, and an entire line of Miss Jessie’s products, would afford us opportunities we never imagined—financial stability and independence and hard-fought recognition for being pioneers of the emerging segment of the hair-care business called the ‘Natural Hair Movement.’ We didn’t know then how huge this moment really was. But we had an idea we were on to something that would make our salon customers happy.”
— From Miss Jessie’s: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch—Naturally
It is no coincidence that the names for many of Miss Jessie’s products are inspired by delicious, sweet desserts, because the heart of the Miss Jessie’s started at home, in the kitchen. Every mention of each Miss Jessie’s product causes my sweet tooth to tingle, because of how they remind me of some of my favorite sweet treats. Therefore, I’ve put a list of some of my favorite Miss Jessie’s products, along with a corresponding recipe for a delectable dessert that each product reminds me of.
1. Miss Jessie’s Curly Pudding gives me a craving for….
Source: FoodNetwork.com
Mama Daisy’s Banana Pudding, by Pat and Gina Neely
Source: FoodNetwork.com
Recipe courtesy of Patrick and Gina Neely and foodnetwork.com
2. Miss Jessie’s Curly Meringue gives me a craving for…
Source: FoodNetwork.com
Giada De Laurentiis Lemon Meringue with Armaretti Cookie Topping
Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis and foodnetwork.com
3. Miss Jessie’s Curly Buttercreme and Baby Buttercreme gives me a craving for…
Source: FoodNetwork.com
WINNER Mint Chocolate Chip and Fresh Mint Buttercream Cupcakes
Recipe courtesy of Victoria Donnelly, from Cupcake Wars (Episode: “LA Kings”) 2010, and foodnetwork.com
4. Miss Jessie’s Baby Buttermilk gives me a craving for…
Source: FoodNetwork.com
Buttermilk Biscuits and Cinnamon Spiced Butter, by Pat and Gina Neely
Recipe courtesy of Patrick and Gina Neely and foodnetwork.com
5. Miss Jessie’s Coily Custard gives me a craving for…
Source: FoodNetwork.com
Sunny Anderson’s Choc-Nanner-Nut Custards
Recipe courtesy of Sunny Anderson and foodnetwork.com
6. Miss Jessie’s Jelly Soft Curls gives me a craving for…..
Source: FoodNetwork.com
Patrick and Gina Neely’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
Recipe courtesy of Patrick and Gina Neely and foodnetwork.com
7. Miss Jessie’s Crème de la Crème gives me a craving for…
Source: FoodNetwork.com
Sunny Anderson’s Butter Pecan Ice Cream
Recipe courtesy of Sunny Anderson and foodnetwork.com
Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
Branch, Miko, and Titi Branch. Miss Jessie’s: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch—Naturally. New York: Amistad, an Imprint of HarperCollins, 2015. Print.
*All images sourced via Pinterest
