The InstigatorFor some artists, inspiration becomes a painting, sculpture, photograph, or piece of music. For Cat Sewell, it becomes cake.
She has spent years creating wedding cakes, inventive desserts, and edible works of art, but she doesn’t separate baking from creativity. In her mind, cake is simply the medium she chose.
Raised by a single mother, Cat spent much of her childhood making things.
“If I wasn’t baking, I was either cooking, painting, or doing clay,” she said. “It kind of morphed into, ‘I can do all of these things in cake.'”
That realization came when she was just 13 years old.
A long-term school project required students to create a fictional business and build it over several years of coursework. Overwhelmed by the pressure of choosing the “right” business, Cat struggled to commit to an idea until a teacher suggested she build it around something she already loved: baking.
More than two decades later, that moment still shapes her life.
What began as a school project evolved into years of experimentation, learning, and creating. Cat started selling cakes as a teenager, continued baking while working other jobs, and eventually built a successful cake business. Wedding cakes became her specialty because they combined everything she loved about creating—design, structure, flavor, color, and presentation—into a single edible work of art.
Cat talks about flavors the way artists discuss color palettes and compositions. Honey rosemary fig. Lavender Earl Grey with lemon and blackberry. Coconut strawberry lychee. Ginger, blood orange, and rhubarb. The combinations may sound unusual at first, and that is exactly why she enjoys them.
“People do like the weird flavors,” she said.
That curiosity often extends beyond cake. Cat is constantly developing new ideas, whether that’s creating limited-edition collections inspired by pop culture (like a specialty box of treats she released for Bridgerton season four) or developing desserts that tap into larger food trends, like the mousse crunch dessert, a uniquely shaped sweet featuring cake and mousse, enveloped in a crisp chocolate shell.
Turning creativity into a career comes with its own challenges. Running a business, leading a growing team, raising a family, and creating new work all compete for attention.
“There is this innate thing inside of you that has to create,” she said.
She admits she spends far too much time thinking about cake. If she can’t sleep, she’s researching techniques, reading recipes, or exploring new ideas. Inspiration comes from television shows, architecture, colors, trends, and everyday objects.
“I think my list of things that I haven’t got to make yet that I want to make is longer than my brain can contain,’” she said. “This is my art form, so when I see something cool, I’m like, ‘Huh. I wonder if I could cake that.’ It hits constantly, all the time, and I hope it never stops.”
Sewell Sweets
155 Liberty St NE, Suite 160
971-287-7171, sewellsweets.com
instagram.com/sewellsweets/
Rooted in Downtown
When Cat and her husband Chad were looking for a place to build their future bakery, Sewell Sweets, they chose this community. The couple moved to Salem in 2020 after years of operating Cat’s wedding cake business from private licensed kitchens and their home. They considered other locations, even almost purchasing an existing bakery elsewhere.
“We picked Salem because it felt small-town while still having access to all the resources that a family needs,” Cat said.
Sewell Sweets opened in late 2022 and has become a downtown destination for desserts, pastries, cookies, and specialty treats.
The business has also grown beyond its storefront through partnerships with other local businesses. Sewell Sweets products can now be found at locations including Offbeat Coffee, Cozy Taberna, Lively Station, Lively at the Mill, Sybil’s Omelettes, Enchanted Forest, and with the Marion Berries baseball team.
That spirit of collaboration is one of the reasons the Sewells remain enthusiastic about downtown Salem. While public conversations often focus on challenges, they see a network of business owners, employees, artists, and organizations working together to create something special.
“It’s really cool being part of the community,” Cat said.
