By Shauna Stuart | sstuart@al.com
Cake artist Komeh Ottison Davis is closing one of her creative chapters.
Davis, the pastry chef and proprietor of CakEffect–the Hoover bakery specializing in cupcakes, cookies, and custom cakes– is retiring from the business and closing the bake shop.
CakEffect, located at in suite 109 at 1021 Brocks Gap Pkwy in Hoover, will host a closing sale from Aug. 23 to 25. According to the announcement posted on the bakery’s Facebook page, the store is selling equipment, bakeware, tools, and a delivery van. The sale will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all three days.
Davis, a graduate of Alabama A&M University with a degree in Commercial and Advertising Art, posted the official news on the bakery’s social media accounts earlier this month. In the announcement, she thanked patrons and friends for their support over the past 15 years.
“It has been a pleasure and honor to be a part of your special days and occasions, and an enjoyment to bring you a sweet treat daily,” the note said.
“With that being said, I would also like to let you know that CakEffect is permanently closed. I have decided to retire from the business,” the announcement continued. “A special thank you to all my staff (my cake family) that have been with me through the years. Thank you for helping CakEffect to be a longstanding pillar in the community. I have loved every minute of Caking with you! Though you are no longer here, thank you mama for starting me on my journey, teaching, guiding, cheering and loving me. Komeh.”
Davis, a Detroit native, who has always loved baking and has a background in visual arts, credited her mother Naomi Truman, for inspiring her to combine her two loves.
“Intertwining my love of art with my passion for baking has allowed me to venture out and create a seemingly new avenue of culinary art,” she told the Birmingham Times in 2019. “It’s been a life-shaping experience for the better, and I love sharing my creations with others.”
Davis opened the Hoover location with hopes of serving up CakEffect’s delicious, artistic, and elegantly designed cakes for the citizens of Hoover and beyond.
In 2020, CakEffect was one of 200 restaurants around the country that received a grant from Discover’s “Eat it Forward” program, the credit card program’s financial award series developed to assist Black-owned businesses at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Davis opened the first CakEffect storefront in Homewood in 2011. Eight years later, she relocated the bakery to The Village at Brock’s Gap in Hoover.
CakEffect racked up a number of accolades over the years, including appearances on Good Morning Alabama and Food Network’s “Bakers vs. Fakers.” In 2017, the Alabama Retail Association named CakEffect one of its Silver Retailers of the Year.
