NORWICH – Life doesn’t get much better than biting into an edible, hand-sculpted bow. After all, why take the time to untie the ribbon on your present when you can just eat it?

Such is the temptation that one Norwich entrepreneur hopes to capitalize on with a new cake baking business that specializes in sculpted sugar art. And with well over a 100 orders in just two months, it looks like she’s off to a very good start.

Jennifer Tanis Rice owns and operates Ideal Sweets Cakes and Cookies from her home in Norwich. A farm girl and former Chenango County Dairy Princess, Rice has taken the heavy cream and real butter she grew up around and mixed them with sugar and secret ingredients to bake cakes that are exceptionally moist and dense.

Both the cake and custard filling inside contain components that she wouldn’t dream of revealing.

“It all started because I made a birthday cake for my husband, Bret, and everybody who had some where he works went crazy for the taste. It’s the taste of my cakes ... I’m self taught. I can’t tell you what’s in them,” she said.

After that, Rice decided to take her baking to the next level and began experimenting with pre-packaged fondant, a moldable sugar icing that is readily available in supermarkets. It can be dyed any color in the spectrum and shaped to make just about any object. From intricately sculpted wedding dresses, to monkeys and lady bugs, and from beer kegs to wine bottles, Rice’s cakes have been adding that special touch to many a theme party.