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Meghan Winkler
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Meghan Winkler
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Meghan Winkler
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Meghan Winkler
Lianna Fertig knew since high school that she wanted to have a job that allows her to be creative, and now she makes custom cakes and 50 kinds of cupcakes to showcase her artistry.
She started making cakes professionally while working in event planning when she was 21. Seven years later, she continues to channel her creativity into her Akron-based Enticing Cakes business and her Enticing Cakes Cupcake Truck, which serves bottled coffee drinks, smoothies and, of course, tons of cupcakes.
“I grew up in a family where I learned how to cook and bake,” she says. “I’ve always been artistic.”
Cake wasn’t always her dessert of choice. She often thought the icing was too sweet so she strived to make a mellower icing. Instead of adding mounds of powdered sugar to butter and vanilla extract, she adds an emulsion of coffee-flavored extracts, butter and chocolate syrups, which prevents it from being overly sweet. She then whips the concoction for 20 to 30 minutes.
“I definitely have a lot of clients who love my icing and love my cake because it is slightly different than what they tried at other bakeries,” she says.
She rotates which of her 50 flavors she offers at each event, and that variety is part of the reason she decided on a cupcake truck.
“It’s fun to be creative with … what flavors I think people will like,” she says.
Popular picks are the piled-high deep-fried Oreo cupcake and the striking pink frosted animal cracker cupcake. The former has chocolate cake with an Oreo baked inside that’s topped with cookies-and-cream icing, an Oreo and chocolate ganache. The latter has colorful confetti cake topped with vanilla icing, white chocolate ganache, rainbow sprinkles and an animal cracker bound to make your kids smile and make you nostalgic for your childhood.
She also has many cupcake options that are gluten free, vegan and sugar free, as well as cupcakes for dogs. Each is served in a tulip wrapper, which allows for a larger amount of cake and just a small swirl of icing. “It’s more cake,” she says. “It’s not so overwhelming.”
It makes for a decadent addition to your walk around a festival or event. Plus, you can get dinner from another truck and a treat from hers. Hers is just sweeter and often more colorful.
“There’s always a buzz of good energy around where I take the food truck,” she says. “It’s big, painted rainbow, so people get excited I’m there.”
