Vanilla beans, chocolate ganache, sugared almonds and drunken strawberries are just some of the sweet ingredients used by pastry chef Amy Lung at her new pastry shop, “Cake chic,” located at 500 Chestnut St. in Emmaus.

On May 1, Lung officially opened her doors with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Emmaus Mayor Winfield Iobst, Rep. Doug Reichley's (R-Berks/Lehigh) and Emmaus Main Street Partners manager Teri Madison. Guests were given a tour of the facility along with free samples of the shop's tasty offerings.

Lung knew she had a passion for pastries when she attempted to make her son’s first birthday cake in 2001.

“It didn’t go very well, and it wasn’t very pretty!” Lung said, but she realized that she wanted to learn more. She decided to attend a cake decorating class at Michael’s Craft Store and loved it.

Several years ago, Lung and her family moved from northwestern Pennsylvania to Macungie. She had been a stay-at-home-mom and was interested in going back to work part-time.

Lung began working in the kitchen at Rodale and “loved it.” Through some personal connections, she was then able to work as a part-time pastry chef at The Farmhouse Restaurant in Emmaus under the encouragement and guidance of then executive chef, Michael Adams.

“When I was working at The Farmhouse, I did a lot on my own to learn, but I realized how much I didn’t know. So I went to pastry school in New York City. I took a Bieber bus every weekend for nine months to attend ICE (Institute for Culinary Education),” explained Lung.

After her coursework, Lung participated in a three-month internship at a bakery called “Pink Cake Box” in Denville, N.J. She graduated in 2010 and began her cake creations from a facility in Macungie that offered to rent the kitchen to her. Lung was thankful for the location, but knew she needed a more permanent home in order to be successful.

Sarah Stauffer, owner of Wesley Works Real Estate, worked with Lung to find a useable space. After a year of searching, Lung happened upon the kitchen in the 500 Chestnut St. Victorian home in which Stauffer and her husband, Wesley Barrett, run their businesses.

Prior to becoming home to Wesley Works, the building had served as “Heritage House Bed & Breakfast” and still retained a fully functioning kitchen. Jokingly, Lung suggested she just rent their kitchen. To her surprise, they agreed. Lung officially signed the lease on March 7 and has been open for business since.

Rather than a retail storefront, Cake chic is a “call ahead” supplier of cupcakes, cakes and cookies. Lung emphasized that she needs a minimum of two weeks’ notice in order to effectively handle an order. The pastries are completely custom-made from scratch. An average cake takes at least 14 hours from start to finish, Lung said.

“You can’t get stuff like this from Giant or Wegman’s,” Lung said.

Despite her lack of advertising, Lung has been very busy. “I’m actually starting to turn business away,” she said. Word of mouth has been the key to her rapid success.

Lung also personally delivers her pastries as an added assurance that they will arrive intact.

“I need to get one of those signs that says “Cake On Board” because I know people driving behind me think I’m crazy,” she joked. She added that she enjoys the personal delivery because it also allows her to be part of each family’s celebration.

During the tour, Mayor Iobst had the group laughing when he asked, “So, you won’t go to people’s homes and then jump out of the birthday cake?” Lung does not offer that service, but she offers some pretty amazing pastries.

Amy Lung welcomes custom orders and can be contacted via her Web site at Cake chic. She also invites customers to join her Facebook page at Cake chic Designs by Amy.