Julie Shuler has worked in the social services for the past eight years, but she says her passion has always been cakes.
“When I was a teenager in Massachusetts, I learned how to decorate cakes and worked for a high-end Italian bakery,” she said. “It got me through college, and over the years a couple of times I took a break from social services to work at bakeries. Now I’m ready to do this permanently.”
Shuler has leased the freestanding building at 449 N. Walnut, which most recently housed Shabby Shack until that business moved to West White Oaks Drive in 2020. “It’s the perfect size and there’s a lot of traffic along Walnut,” she said, noting that the space is also less than a mile from her home.
The Cake Shoppe will offer ready-made products for retail as well as taking special orders. “We’re not going to do baked goods other than cake-based,” said Shuler. “We’ll have cake pops, cupcakes, and ready-made fancy dessert cakes for sale.”
Shuler said The Cake Shoppe will offer a lot of traditional recipes, along with specialty items such as the Mary Todd Lincoln white almond cake that was purportedly Abraham Lincoln’s favorite dessert.
The space is currently undergoing renovations and Shuler plans to open Feb. 5 in time for Valentine’s Day orders.
