By Nancy Price
What started as a hobby to bake and decorate birthday cakes for family and friends has grown to a popular 3,000-square-foot Southside bakery with an expanded tasting room.
Thirteen years ago, Center Grove resident Amy McCorkle baked an Elmo cake for her son’s birthday. She posted a few photos of the cake on social media. Close friends and family noticed the detail Amy put into her work and began asking her to bake cakes for them as well.
“We never had a store-bought cake when I was growing up,” she said. I was going to make (cakes) myself. I had no training, just years of practice. I started watching Martha Stewart and I started baking a little for family functions. I loved it.”
Through word of mouth, Amy gained even more attention and made her first sale in spring of 2008. Five or six orders a week turned into more than 30, and Amy’s best friend, Danielle, began to help by baking and decorating cookies and cake pops.
By mid-2017, the side hobby grew into an actual business. Amy and her husband, Scott McCorkle, began pricing equipment and started research on licensing and insurance, and incorporated the business. That fall, Amy saw a for-sale sign at a Southside bakery. She purchased the 1,000-square-foot shop, combining Indy Cakes with Sweet Escape Cake Company. Though it wasn’t long before the location was too small. Amy signed a lease with the bakery’s current location in October 2017 and the company moved a year later to its current location at 7745 S Meridian St, Indianapolis, 46217.
“I just love dealing with customers and baking sweets,” Amy said. “Everyone is happy to come in; being a part of their celebration makes me feel good.”
Sweet Escape Cake Company creates wedding cakes and cakes for other occasions, cake pops, decorative cookies and chocolate-covered cupcakes, Oreos and pretzels.
“We put a lot of attention into detail,” Amy said. We just want to please the customer; we want to know exactly what you want; we’ll do exactly what you want. We’ll do what we can to fit in your last-minute order. All our stuff is baked fresh.”
For more information about Sweet Escape Cake Company, call (317) 840-1562 or go to sweetescapecakecompany.com.
