Meet Kristal Bryant of K&J’s Elegant Pastries & Creamery
Kristal Bryant is behind the viral Kolossal milkshakes that took the Magic City by storm. These days, she's getting back to her true passion — designing custom cakes that you’ve got to see to believe! Image: K&J’s Elegant Pastries & Creamery
When Kristal Bryant opened K&J’s Elegant Pastries, ice cream wasn’t on her mind. She was busy working in Birmingham restaurants and designing cakes for friends and family in her limited free time. But eventually, her side gig success led to opening a storefront in Alabaster, where she was introduced to something called “freak shakes” — and her life would never be the same. With the help of her husband and three children, K&J’s Kolossal milkshakes were born and quickly went viral.
We caught up with Kristal to hear about about her professional journey, personal inspirations, and getting back to the heart of her work — custom cake design. Get to know this talented FACE of Birmingham!
First things first, what led you to cakes?
I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. I studied savories at Virginia College in Birmingham, and while working in restaurants, I started to teach myself to make cakes. My mom is a big cook, so I always grew up in the kitchen and always loved art. And that’s how Culinary Arts later became my major.
I’ve been married to my husband, Jonathan Bryant, for 16 years. We have three beautiful children: Jakaiya, 22, Jaliyah, 17, and Jonathan Jr., 3. The name K&J’s is derived from our family.
How did K&J’s come to be, and what prompted you to move the bakery from Alabaster to Uptown?
K&J’s started as an at-home bakery. While working in restaurants in Birmingham, I started making cakes for family and friends from home. After working from home for about three years, my husband and I opened our first small cake shop on Kent Dairy Road in Alabaster.
After serving the Alabaster community for nine years, we decided to move the bakery to my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. That decision was a hard one to make, but it made sense because most of our customer base was coming from Birmingham. It turned out to be one of the best decisions that we’ve ever made for the bakery. We had a huge influx of business after making the move.
Take us back to when your Kolossal milkshakes first took off. How did you come up with the idea for the monster shakes, and what was it like when they went viral?
In 2016, Ted Vodde, who ran the Alabaster Newsletter, stopped by the bakery and showed me a picture of what was called a “freak shake” in Australia. We were in the process of moving to a larger location in Alabaster, and that day, we decided to add ice cream to the business. The milkshake name, “Kolossal,” was created by my children. They also helped me create all of the flavors and looks of the shakes.
One day, a writer from AL.com wrote an article on the milkshakes. I was unaware of the article, but by the next week, the article was live, and thousands of people had read it. It was an instant success. We went from three employees to 16 employees within two weeks. And every news publication had done a write-up on us. Within the next two months, Southern Living, Travel Channel, and Food Network, to name a few, had all reached out to us. People were traveling hundreds of miles just to try the Kolossal milkshake.
Tell us about how K&J’s has evolved over the years, from the Kolossal shakes’ sudden success to where you are now.
I always say that my business is multiple businesses in one — from cupcakes to shakes to custom cakes. I’ve also learned that when you own a business, you have to be able to pivot to what’s trending. One day, we’re known for a Kolossal milkshake, and now we are known for our cupcakes, thanks to TikTok. I honestly love the diversity of our business. It allows us to stay relevant while being artistic.
COVID was one of the hardest times for our business. We went from having a line out the door every weekend to not even being open at all. During that time, our food truck, Pinky, was a savior. We were able to go into neighborhoods when everybody was at home and service them. That saved K&J’s; it was definitely the most challenging time in our 13-year journey.
Where can we find you when you’re not working?
I love spending time with my family, trying new restaurants, and traveling.
Who or what is inspiring you right now?
Right now, I’m inspired by fashion. I feel like fashion designs have a lot of details, and I can pull my artistic designs from them.
What is your best piece of advice?
Don’t ever feel like you have to grow your business at a certain speed. Everyone’s journey is different. Some ideas are an instant success, and some take time to grow. But as long as you are going toward your goals, you are growing, whether it’s fast or slow.
Finally, we always ask: Aside from faith, family, and friends, name three things you can’t live without.
Football, food, and fun.
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Birmingham women are doing inspiring work. Meet more of them over at our FACES archives!
Katie Leigh Matthews
A Birmingham native, Katie is a lifelong waterfall chaser and is passionate about the outdoors. She also loves connecting with remarkable women in the Birmingham community and bringing their stories to life. Katie has been writing professionally for over six years; you can find more of her work at Moms.com and Islands.com.