Sugar Rush Cake creates edible masterpieces.
Amy Hume had only three days to make legendary musician Willie Nelson a sculpted 28-inch-tall guitar-shaped cake.
Ahead of Nelson’s September Blossom Music Center concert, the New Franklin-based Sugar Rush Cake Art owner reached out to his team about baking the star a custom dessert. She got a yes — but needed to deliver on a tight timeline. Hume sculpted Nelson’s guitar, named “Trigger,” out of his favorite banana chocolate chip cake, buttercream frosting, edible paint, fondant and modeling chocolate. Hume included every detail, from the woodgrain to the guitar strings —and even carved in the etchings on his instrument.
“If you’re a visual artist, you can re-create stuff. You can look at a signature and copy that signature, but it’s all done with edible paint and fondant tools,” she says of the cake, which received rave reviews from Nelson’s team. “Willie loved it, and all the cake was eaten. They didn’t have any left. He was very flattered.”
Hume’s cakes have reached rockstar status for their intricate details and incredibly lifelike sculptural elements, representing figures like cars, animals and food items. A fine and studio arts degree from The University of Akron, as well as a background in sculpture, help her to create edible masterpieces.
She crafts offbeat wedding cakes — such as a black Halloween confection, topped with gritty skulls, mini pumpkins, mauve flowers and black and silver lace-style details— as well as more traditional; tiered white cakes, like one with draping flowers and a tiered fountain layer. Hume’s masterpieces come in a wide range of flavors, including chocolate, almond, vanilla, carrot, red velvet, lemon and raspberry. She also uses several types of fillings, such as cherry, strawberry, raspberry, lemon, chocolate, vanilla, apple butter and cream cheese. Hume feels honored to add to a couple’s big day.
“It’s a big deal for me to be apart of those celebrations,” says Hume, who started Sugar Rush in 2011 and also bakes babka, baklava, cookies, braided breads and more.
She puts her creativity on display with groom’s cakes. These fun additions tend to feature sculpted items representing something the groom loves —past examples included a green Volkswagen bug with an “I Do” license plate, a pig roast stuffed with a sculpted apple and a green ooze-covered Slimer from “Ghostbusters” gobbling sculpted fries. She has even made cakes representing clients’ dogs, cats, horses and lizards.
Hume’s largest cake to date isa 3.5-foot tall E.T., crafted for a TV appearance on “New Day Cleveland.” To make the alien stand up, she built an under-structure out of PVC pipes, wire and wood. Rice Krispies Treats were used as a sticky base layer, with cake stacked on top, followed by icing. She sculpted E.T’s wrinkles out of modeling chocolate and fondant. His eyes are their own works of art.
“I draw out the color part of the eye on rice paper, and then I pour isomalt into dome-shaped silicone molds,” she says. “When you flip it over, it looks like an eye.”
When musician Todd Rundgren came to theAkron Civic Theatre, he messaged Hume, asking her to make a cake. For the 3-foot-tall creation, she made the marquee with his name on it, as well as the Civic’s vertical sign.
“Fondant will dry really hard like rock candy,” says Hume, who is now a costumer at the Civic. “You let it dry long enough, and these elements can be suspended.”
Hume’s favorite actor is Monty Python’s John Cleese. When he came to the Civic on his 84th birthday, she was ecstatic to make him an intricate cake.The head-turning creation was packed with references to his career — including a ring-tailed lemur named after him, a bowler hat and a dead parrot from his famous Monty Python skits, a fishbowl from “A Fish Called Wanda,” books he’d written and more. Like all her cakes, making the art piece was a labor of love for Hume.
“He was absolutely thrilled. He stared at it a long time. He kept saying, There’s so much detail,” she recalls. “I was over the moon.”
330-604-6803, facebook.com/sugarrushcakeart66
1 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
2 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
3 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
4 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
5 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
6 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
7 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
8 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
9 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
10 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
11 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
12 of 12

Photo provided by Sugar Rush Cake Art
Chef Gina’s Bakeshop
What it Offers: A graduate of the acclaimed Culinary Institute of America, pastry chef Gina Giampietro creates gorgeously designed wedding cakes, focusing on flowers and delicate accents.
Work of Art: Accented by macarons, a three-tiered floral cake blossoms into life with a plethora of white, tangerine, mauve, rose and coral buttercream blooms. Ideal for spring, the confection is made up of two sections of vanilla bean cake — one with blueberry buttercream filling and one with pistachio buttercream filling —and a section of chocolate cheesecake cake with coffee buttercream filling.
Make it Yours: Choose from myriad filling flavors, such as cream cheese, peanut butter buttercream and raspberry jam. Cake flavors include Funfetti, orange, almond and hummingbird: a custom combination of pineapple, banana and pecan.
Inside Northside Marketplace, 21 Furnace St., Akron, 330-980-3698, chefginasbakeshop.com
1 of 3

Photo provided by Chef Gina’s Bakeshop
2 of 3

Photo provided by Chef Gina’s Bakeshop
3 of 3

Photo provided by Chef Gina’s Bakeshop
Omalicha Custom Cakes & Confectionery
What it Offers: Edible shimmer, floating tiers and 3-D elements: Stow-based cake designer Chinwe Ofungwu’s luxurious, intricately detailed cakes are perfect for those looking for an artful slice. Her confectionery’s goodies exude opulence— luxe options include sugar flowers and edible pearls — and can be modified for those with dietary restrictions. Omalicha also offers traditional Nigerian wedding cakes, complete with cultural elements such as coral beads and calabashes.
Work of Art: This delicate, three-tiered wedding cake boasts different flavors a teach level: Vanilla bean cake with Swiss meringue vanilla bean buttercream and salted caramel filling make up the first layer, while chocolate cake with whipped chocolate mousse frosting and milk chocolate ganache filling comprise the second. The third tier is delectably fruity— strawberry cake is paired with whipped strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream, fresh strawberries and shortbread cookie crumbles. It is covered in Italian fondant, decorated with jewel and floral texture embossments and crowned with handmade Bougainvillea sugar flowers.
Make it Yours: Savor cake flavors such as strawberry, lemon and coconut. Infuse your confection with chocolate mousse, cookie butter crunch, lemon curd or other fillings.
216-767-6115, omalichacakes.com
1 of 3

Photo by Amanda Ellis Photography
2 of 3

Photo by Amanda Ellis Photography
3 of 3

Photo by Amanda Ellis Photography
All Occasions Bakery
What it Offers: From beautiful, barely frosted cakes to classically piped confections, All Occasions Bakery delivers delicious wedding sweets for those of all tastes. Owner Lisa Fink creates multi-tiered desserts with winding, meticulous designs — and proceeds from her bakery’s cupcake orders benefit breast cancer awareness.
Work of Art: Complete with handmade fondant ruffles, this lavish four-tier cake is a vision in ivory. White almond cake layers, complete with raspberry filling, boast elegant drop pearl stencil flourishes.
Make it Yours: Select from cake options, including spice, carrot, pumpkin, peanut butter, chocolate espresso and more. All Occasions’ fillings are the perfect complement: Enjoy Bavarian cream, pistachio, chocolate ganache, lemon mousse and other flavors.
7230 Portage St. NW, Massillon, 330-809-0799, alloccasionsbakery.com

Photo provided by All Occasions Bakery