↓ Amanda "Mandy" Miller Owner of Sugar Rush
" " Sugar Rush embraces the weird and wonderful side of baking. By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Leonardo Carrizo
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n 2018, Sugar Rush owner Amanda “Mandy” Miller baked the first cake of her life. It was four layers high, decorated in handcrafted red, white, and blue buttercream—and it ended up exploding. “That really began my interest in baking, and it kind of just spiraled from there,” said Miller of the intentional “explosion cake,” she had crafted for a local Fourth of July Party. In this style, the cake’s center is hollowed
out and replaced with a bounty of colorful sprinkles and small candies. When the cake is cut into, these spill out in a fun, festive display that’s also full edible. More important than stealing the show at a neighborhood Independence Day bash, this cake marked a real turning point for Miller. Not only did she demonstrate some prodigious baking talent, it turned on a light for her that’s still burning brightly to this day: a passion for whipping up
the wildest and most flavor-packed baked goods the human mind can conjure up. “I would get off [work], and end up baking until 3 a.m. almost every night,” said Miller of working her day job for a real estate company before going home and baking like crazy. As demand for her kooky custom cakes skyrocketed, Miller transitioned from a home bakery to renting out the kitchen of Sexton’s Pizza after-hours to her own storefront, all in just → 614NOW.COM
"I would get off [work], and end up baking until 3 a.m. almost every night."
MARCH 2021 (614) MAGAZINE
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