{"id":41117,"date":"2025-11-17T14:27:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T19:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=41117"},"modified":"2025-11-17T14:55:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T19:55:42","slug":"indulgence-bakery-brings-custom-cake-art-and-sweet-creativity-to-downtown-saratoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2025\/11\/indulgence-bakery-brings-custom-cake-art-and-sweet-creativity-to-downtown-saratoga\/","title":{"rendered":"Indulgence Bakery Brings Custom Cake Art And Sweet Creativity To Downtown Saratoga"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_41118\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41118\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-41118\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/11\/indulgencebakery-v-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/11\/indulgencebakery-v-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/11\/indulgencebakery-v-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/11\/indulgencebakery-v-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/11\/indulgencebakery-v.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-41118\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elise Soto celebrates the grand opening of Indulgence Bakery, creating custom cake art downtown.<br \/>Courtesy Indulgence Bakery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By Susan Elise Campbell<\/p>\n<p>Whoever coined, \u201cLife is Short. Eat desert first,\u201d knew that a little sugar is good for the soul.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a philosophy of Elise Soto, new owner of Indulgence Bakery at 63 Putnam Street in Saratoga Springs.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the Saratoga Chamber, family and friends, former associates from Putnam Market, Mayor John Safford, and Senator James Tedisco all attended the bakery\u2019s grand opening and ribbon cutting on November 6th.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a full-circle moment for Soto. She was a pastry chef at Putnam Market on and off for 10 years, she said. Now her shop occupies the original site of the gourmet deli.<\/p>\n<p>Soto left Putnam Market and started a custom cake business, Yours Truly Cake Designs, in 2021, she said. She had been employed there since 2008 as an intern after culinary school and had been promoted to kitchen manager by the end of the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"><span class=\"\"><b><span class=\"s1\"><span class=\"s2\"><!--more--><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span>She was working out of commissary kitchens for about a year when she turned her focus to a government career. She administered the emergency food system for New York and in December was hired for the northeast regional office of the USDA, which job was terminated soon thereafter with a change of administration, Soto said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis bakery, Indulgence Bakery, had been here for two and a half years in Saratoga and the owner was selling,\u201d said Soto. \u201cWe have the same business model so it made sense to transfer ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The previous owner offered Soto owner financing when she found it difficult to secure a traditional commercial loan. Her only other major challenge in starting the business has been that \u201corders for custom cakes are coming in better than expected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Both business owners specialize in one-of-a-kind cakes for weddings and special occasions and in sculpted cakes. Sculpted cakes can take the form of anything the client would like, such as a guitar or a cartoon character. One client\u2019s son wanted a Godzilla cake for his party, so Soto made the classic monster complete with eyes that lit up.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Indulgence Bakery is described as more like an art studio than a bakery, where clients share their inspiration for custom works of art, Soto said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCake is my art medium,\u201d she said. \u201cI do sketches, design to the customer\u2019s specifications, and even incorporate their photos and ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bakery has a boutique pastry counter that is open Fridays and Saturdays and will soon<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>extend through Sundays. Walk-ins can buy from a daily assortment of two or three varieties of cake slices, two kinds of cookies, scones, and breakfast pastries.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut no cupcakes,\u201d Soto said. \u201cCake slices stay within the brand.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Her most popular flavor is Dos Leches, but with a twist. Soto said she is Puerto Rican and \u201cadds coconut to my recipe, so it\u2019s different.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Her vision for the retail store is to \u201ceventually be more cooperative, maybe adding another baker, such as bread, as well as small gifts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are getting artisan vendors to set up shelving inside the space to sell hand-made cards, body butters, soaps, and custom ornaments,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a market for a one-stop shop for gifts at this little gem just off the beaten path.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For her first year of operation Soto is focusing on custom cakes and classes.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a chef instructor in my government work and love teaching,\u201d said Soto. \u201cRight now there are courses coming up on baking cookies and decorating cakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But she has other ideas. How to make macaroons and paint and sip gatherings, where people paint on slabs of cake instead of a canvas, are just a few.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to use the space for a lot more,\u201d she said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For information on cakes and classes and to place an order, visit bitesofindulgence.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Susan Elise Campbell Whoever coined, \u201cLife is Short. Eat desert first,\u201d knew that a little sugar is good for the soul. That\u2019s a philosophy of Elise Soto, new owner of Indulgence Bakery at 63 Putnam Street in Saratoga Springs. Members of the Saratoga Chamber, family and friends, former associates from Putnam Market, Mayor John [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":41119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Indulgence Bakery Brings Custom Cake Art And Sweet Creativity To Downtown Saratoga - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2025\/11\/indulgence-bakery-brings-custom-cake-art-and-sweet-creativity-to-downtown-saratoga\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Indulgence Bakery Brings Custom Cake Art And Sweet Creativity To Downtown Saratoga - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Susan Elise Campbell Whoever coined, \u201cLife is Short. 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