One of Detroit’s Wildest Cake Designers Is Going Brick-and-Mortar in Cass Corridor

Cass Corridor is about to get a whole lot sweeter. One of the city’s most whimsical dessert makers, Cake Ambition, is moving in on 3rd Avenue. Jessica Bouren, the creative mind behind custom cake business, tells Eater she plans to open the bakery this winter.

While there are numerous bakeries in Detroit and several located within the Midtown area, “nobody specializes in custom cakes,” she says. While not a traditionally trained pastry chef, Bouren has developed a reputation as a skilled cake designer. She’s worked as an executive pastry chef for The Whitney and has baked for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, but for the past three years has been running Cake Ambition out of the kitchen at neighborhood brewpub Traffic Jam & Snug.

Brenna Houck

Bouren holds a degree interior design and says she brings those skills to her baking. “We do both traditional designs and the craziest designs you can think of,” she says. Past samplings of her work include boots, pirate ships, cuckoo clocks, and even a cake version of The Forest Arms building.

“My clientele has grown tremendously in the past year or so,” she says of the decision to open her own shop. The 1,300-square-foot bakery is located next to a seemingly natural ally for weddings — Birmingham-based flower shop Blossoms. The building is also expected to eventually house a new bar.

Bouren is designing the shop herself, with an “retro” look similar to a ‘50s style diner with a cake tasting bar. While Cake Ambition will primarily specialize in custom designs, the owner says diners can also expect a line of dessert cakes as well as pastries, coffee, and WiFi. Bouren also teases something she’s calling a “cake sundae.” The shop is slated to debut sometime between late-January and Valentine’s Day.

• Cake Ambition Website [Official]

• All Coming Attractions Coverage [ED]

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