Alexa Abaroa of DeEtta’s Bakery

Give cake decorator Alexa Abaroa just two things — a short bio of someone you love and 14 days’ notice — and she’ll do more than make you a cake worthy of the Food Network. She’ll sculpt you an edible objet d’art that will evoke as much emotion as any Hallmark card. Her cakes, available at Naperville’s DeEtta’s Bakery, have made people giggle (like the burger-themed creation served with cookie “french fries” and red-frosting “ketchup”), want to play with their food (think: a drum cake with removable fondant drumsticks), and reach for their hankies (she molded one confection to look like a grandfather’s favorite flannel shirt). “It’s the small personal touches that matter,” says Abaroa, who recently won awards galore at the International Baking Industry Exposition’s cake-decorating championship. “That’s what makes people feel something real.” 428 W. Fifth Ave., Naperville