Christina Calderon (left) spent 15 years as a wedding and event planner. To relieve stress, she began to make custom cakes on the side.

When requests for her cakes threatened to take over her home kitchen, she decided to merge her two worlds into L inger Bakery and Lounge.

The bakery, at 19 S.E. Third St. in historic downtown Lee’s Summit, is less sugary sweet than swanky.

The royal purple and lavender lounge features a sitting room with contemporary modular black leather couches and ottomans that double as coffee tables, the perfect set-up if you’re thinking of renting the room out for parties, meetings, poetry readings, live music and other events. Calderon also offers her walls as gallery space for local artists.

As the bakery side of the business continues to grow, Calderon is finding a comfortable niche making elaborate carved, covered and decorated cakes.

“I can make a lovely layer cake, but I don’t do a lot of traditional things,” she says.

Her cakes average $55, and she bakes no more than 24 hours in advance to guarantee freshness. She also offers fresh-baked loaves by the Bread Girl and special-order desserts by Whimsy Cheesecake Co., both Kansas City companies. Hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday. Find more info at lingerbakery

.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.