Cake Decorating Meets Teambuilding

Michelle Garcia, owner of Roscoe Village's Bleeding Heart Bakery, creates organic cakes decorated in bold colors, often with a punk rock aesthetic. Now she's inviting corporate groups of five to 15 to decorate cakes in a similar style. Set in the bakery's kitchen, her three-hour classes can focus on basic topics (such as a how-to session on cake making) or involve teambuilding exercises that challenge groups to create goal-oriented cakes that depict the teams' work ambitions. Groups come up with a focus, like creativity, and then work together to create abstract representations of the idea to adorn the cake. Class fees start at $500 and include drinks; for $600, Garcia can throw in hors d'oeuvres and drinks.