Angie’s Sugar Buzz Bakery recognized by Illinois Office of Tourism

Since Angie’s Sugar Buzz Bakery opened in Sandwich in 2014, it has been creating a buzz throughout the community.

Now that buzz is statewide. The bakery, located at 1004 E. Church St., recently was inducted into the Illinois Made program, which encourages residents and visitors to discover the people, products and experiences found at small businesses in every region of the state.

Since 2016, the Illinois Office of Tourism has been selecting a group of local businesses that exemplify the authentic experiences and innovative products made in Illinois.

Yari Aguado, executive director of the Sandwich Area Chamber of Commerce, is proud of the efforts of owner Angie Davis and that her business has been recognized in this fashion.

“She made it on the list and is putting Sandwich on the map,” Aguado said.

Aguado knows firsthand what the bakery has to offer.

“I love everything there,” she said. “I try different things every time I go there.”

January will mark 10 years since Davis opened her bakery. The building previously housed a gas station convenience store owned by her aunt.

“It was known for its old-fashioned candy, and it had a bakery inside of it,” Davis said.

She had worked there over the years, including managing the gas station and bakery. After her aunt retired, Davis thought it was a good opportunity to start her own bakery cafe.

“I wanted it to be like the cafe on the TV show ‘Friends,’ " Davis said. “I wanted it to be a place where people came and sat and enjoyed a sweet treat and had a great cup of coffee and carried on the art of conversation. That’s what I wanted to do for this place.”

Ever since it opened, Davis has been trying to make sure her bakery caters to what the community wants.

“The community has been amazing and extremely supportive,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here without them.”

Customer service is a high priority for Davis.

“We’re very personable,” she said. “I’ve got an amazing staff. Before I used to just do pies by order. But I found that there was a big demand for pies. So I started having them made all the time, and it’s really gone over well.”

Davis takes pride in the fact that everything she sells is baked and frosted and decorated there.

“All the cakes are baked fresh here and I do all the cake decorating,” she said. “We level our cakes that I decorate, and that cake scrap is what we make into truffles or cake bites. We try and save waste. Our bread pudding is made from our day-old donuts. We cut them all up and put them in a bowl and mix it all together and bake it into a bread pudding.”

The employees at Angie’s Sugar Buzz Bakery arrive at 3:30 a.m. to start making donuts so they are fresh before the doors open at 5 a.m.

Davis takes a lot of joy in cake decorating.

“I love the creativity of it,” she said. “I love that each cake is different, and I love personalizing the cakes. I can really customize and personalize that gift. I feel like the cake is a gift. It’s a gift to that person and a celebration of that person’s life.”

With the holiday season well under way, the bakery is selling its fair share of cookies.

“It’s all about the cookies right now,” Davis said. “Our cookie platters and our cookie tins, that’s what everybody wants.”

And Santa Claus is known to pop into the shop from time to time during the holiday season.

“It’s something that we’ve done for 10 years,” she said. “The kids love it.”

More information about Angie’s Sugar Buzz Bakery is available at its website, angiessugarbuzzbakery.com or on its Facebook page.