Janet Wedan is the office manager for the Pequot Lakes Police Department, and she recently started a cake-baking business.

You could say Janet Wedan's hobby turned business takes the cake.

Janet, a lakes area native, began baking cakes for special occasions as a hobby 20 years ago when her son, Garrett, was little.

"I do every craft imaginable," she said with a laugh, noting her hobbies range from baking cakes and sewing to hunting deer.

Garrett is now 21, and Janet recently became more serious about baking cakes. She started a business called You Take the Cake and began charging for her cakes this past summer.

She does all her baking at the home she built in 2004-05 in Lake Edward Township. She estimated she has 75 pans. She can bake anything from a 2- to an 18-inch round cake as well as square and rectangle cakes up to 12 by 18 inches. If she doesn't have a specifically shaped pan, she can create the shape herself.

Prices start at $1.20 per serving with additional costs for specialty work.

Last year's donated creations included a retirement cake for Breezy Point police chief Steve Rudek and an offer to bake a cake as part of the Pequot Lakes Library basket auction fundraiser.

Nancy and Tom Adams had bid on Janet's offer to bake a cake for 50 people. The resulting cake was a representation of East Twin Lake, complete with trees and the lake. It was the first time Janet attempted to make trees, which were frosted ice cream cones, and Nancy Adams tucked them away in her cupboard because they were so neat.

Janet has a knack for baking cakes that fit the person the cake is for. Through the years, she has had fun baking themed birthday cakes for relatives.

She got her start baking cakes with a friend who also enjoyed the hobby. Janet mostly learned on her own by looking at pictures in books and experimenting.

The one task she couldn't master was making flowers. Though she made wedding and anniversary cakes, including 15 one year, she always used real flowers on the cakes instead of frosted ones.

The first wedding cake Janet made was 20 years ago for a neighbor when she lived in Pequot Lakes. After making cakes for two years, including two that served 500 people, Janet burned out. A young son kept her busy so she backed off her hobby, though she continued making cakes for occasions as gifts for relatives and for family birthdays.

Janet had always wanted to take cake classes in St. Cloud, and when a friend moved here they both took classes for three months last spring.

"My main thing is I wanted to know how to do flowers," Janet said.

Not only did she learn how to create flowers, Janet learned different frostings, and her hobby snowballed from there.

"I'm having a lot more fun with it this time," she said, noting it's a creative outlet she thoroughly enjoys, especially brain-storming cake themes.

She's made fishing bobbers and lures from fondant (a cream confection used to decorate cakes) and buys accessories like wine glasses and other items most people wouldn't think to use for cakes.

Surprisingly, Janet said, "I don't eat cake."

Her co-workers at Pequot Lakes City Hall have enjoyed the fruits - or sugars - of her labor. As office manager for the Pequot Lakes Police Department, Janet has brought in different themed cakes and cupcakes.

Janet has worked for the police department since 2004, and she's the administrative assistant for Lakes Area Restorative Justice. She enjoys the variety of the job.

"There's so many different things I do here. There's never a dull moment," she said. "No two days are alike. I enjoy that. It keeps it interesting."

She's had fun being involved with the Christmas for Kids program, both shopping for and delivering gifts on Christmas Eve. She also enjoys Pequot Lakes' Fourth of July parade festivities and had fun being logistics coordinator for the 2008 Governor's Fishing Opener in Breezy Point.

Janet grew up on Round Lake, graduating from Brainerd High School. Her father owned Wedan Construction for 38 years, and Janet learned the trade while tagging along with him.

She designed and wired her own home. "I can build you a house," she said. "The only thing I have not done is lay block."

Her son, Garrett, graduated from Central Lakes College and is now a student at the University of North Dakota where he's majoring in electrical engineering and computer science.

Anyone interested in a cake from You Take the Cake can contact Janet at (218) 232-6544 or jlwfuzz@yahoo.com.