Before Sarah Halterman began baking five-tier wedding cakes from the kitchen of her own business, she was sharing her confections with coworkers in the teacher’s lounge. Halterman, a second grade teacher, began baking following the birth of her first child. She said began baking cakes with a simple goal of making birthday cakes for her children.

Halterman said she learned to bake through classes, trial-and-error and even YouTube videos.  Her artistic side came out in the work and the response from other teachers was more than positive, she said.

“They were like, ‘Oh you should start a business!’” Halterman said.

So she did. Halterman quit her job as a teacher and in 2007 opened Sweet Art Bakery in McKinney.

In the first year, she said she remembers doing roughly 10 wedding cakes. Now, the business and its staff of six complete orders for  more than 100 cakes a year.

When the bakery moved from its previous location near the center of town, Halterman decided to add a cafe, where guests could purchase daily sweets such as a cake truffles or cupcake. The style of the cafe pays homage to that of downtown McKinney Halterman said, as the interior features a vintage-industrial feel, with cracked-paint window frames and mismatched metal and wooden chairs.

Wedding cakes are also on the cafe menu, but in a smaller form. The cupcakes ($2.50 each, $25 for a dozen) come in other flavors, too, including red velvet, vanilla birthday cake, lemon, strawberries and cream, and chocolate salted caramel.

Breakfast is also available with a menu featuring coffee, a sausage kolache ($2), almond croissant ($3) and other breakfast pastries.

The cakes are still the main focus of Sweet Art Bakery and there are options for many of life’s occasions, she said.

“We really get a lot of repeat customers,” Halterman said. “We’ve done their engagement cake, their wedding cake, then their baby shower, their first birthday.”

The artist in Halterman likes some of the more unique requests from customers.

For a recent 30th birthday she decorated a three-tier cake with images from the man’s life and some of his favorite things. For the Fourth of July the team of bakers created a cake that featured five miniature Founding Fathers walking atop a red and white flag.

Photos of the bakery’s custom cakes, cupcakes and cookies can be seen on its website. Although the staff enjoys the challenge of a custom cake, the work is not easy, Halterman said.

“Had someone told me how much work it would have been in the beginning I might not have done it,” Halterman said. “So I’m glad no one did because I actually did it.”