Hot Pink is the new cake downtown

Pretty pink: Jody Carmichael is the owner of the bakery, Hot Pink Cake Stand.

Shades of pink, touches of black and white paint and vintage over-sized damask pattern wallpaper give the Hot Pink Cake Stand a chic, feminine and classic look.

An elegant, five-tiered wedding cake in a bright, Front Street display window give the Hot Pink Cake Stand a consumer appeal.

Owner and cake artist Jody Carmichael has combined her passions for fashion and interior design to approach a cake shop from a new perspective.

“For me the fun of this business is in the decoration – I’m taking my background in interior design and art and transferring it to cakes. I’m dreaming up limitless ideas for cakes,” Carmichael said.

With a long pink bar running down the center of the shop, customers can watch everything happen from their bar stools. Along the shop’s long wall, large open shelves will be rented out to local tea, coffee and wine vendors. Carmichael said that she’s even working with a local tea company to launch a pink tea.

And with her design background, Carmichael sees her display window as the best way to entice customers to her product. “It’s just been something that I’ve always wanted to do,” she said.  

After losing an interior design job last year, Carmichael said she discovered the layoff was like a gift. “I’m the type of person that looks for opportunity in adversity,” she said. 

She decided now was the time to open a cake shop. 

When Zoo Toys and Trains closed its prominent Front Street location downtown this summer, it opened what she saw as a great location. An open layout and a large display window with a river view made the shop ideal for Carmichael’s vision to come to life, she said.

Carmichael’s journey didn’t happen overnight. “There were a tremendous amount of obstacles with getting the idea phase to the opening phase – the financing and permits,” Carmichael said. 

She said Hot Pink Cake Stand will offer a variety of cake types and coffee, tea, cookies and a small breakfast selection.

A recent trip to Europe gave Carmichael a desire to incorporate European style breakfasts in her shop. This approach will include simple and light muffins, sandwiches and Nutella.

Menus and store updates can be found on the Hot Pink Cake Stand’s Facebook page.  Also, customers can follow Carmichael and the Hot Pink Cake Stand’s progress on Twitter.

Specific menu items include a tiramisu cupcake with a whipped mascarpone cheese icing, key lime-coconut cupcakes and other classic favorites. With a spotlight on cakes – vegan cupcakes, miniature cupcakes, custom celebration cakes and more – Carmichael scheduled four orders for the new year.

“Custom cakes will be priced per person with a small up-charge for intricate details and figures,” she said. Carmichael’s iniature cupcakes-“babycakes”- will be priced at $1.25 while regular sized cupcakes will be priced at $2.50. 

After all is said and done, Carmichael hopes when people need a cake they will immediately think: Hot Pink Cake Stand. “I want the Hot Pink Cake Stand to become synonymous with baking in Wilmington,” Carmichael said.

Hours of operation will be 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday; and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

Carmichael said she would like the Hot Pink Cake Stand to be unique. “Our goal is to give
people something different.”