Sugar, Style, and Soul: SugaFix Designer Dessert Studio

From the moment you set foot into SugaFix Designer Dessert Studio, you can’t help but smile. The space is bright and beautiful, with a friendly staff waiting to help you, and the smell of baked wonders in the air. The shops’ bold splashes of vibrant colors make you feel like you’ve entered a world created by Roald Dahl. A row of shiny pink gumball-style dispensers lines one wall, and below them, white café tables rest on a black-and-white checkered floor that adds a splash of retro character. Sunlight pours through the front windows, catching the giant cupcake mural.

Decorative Gumball dispensers across the shop's wall.

In the back of the shop, the vibe shifts into a design studio. Colorful aprons hang neatly in a row on a brick wall. White crafting tables sit ready for the next birthday party or decorating class. Near the register, a colorful throne chair sits under floating shelves displaying vibrant cake pop art. Here, nothing is ordinary, and that is precisely how owner Mesha Fields planned it. 

The Baking Queen's throne.

“My cupcake style is over the top,” Fields says, “I want to do weird flavors, never something that you can guess. I think I’m probably the most unique shop around. I like to play with flavors. I like to play with textures.”

For Fields, baking is a visual sport. “The biggest thing for me is that it has to look good,” she says. “It can taste great, but if it doesn’t look good, it’s going to get scratched. You eat with your eyes.” 

She even builds her cupcakes backward. “I go into design first and then work my way backwards with the flavors.”

Yet SugaFix wasn’t born out of a lifelong plan. It started, as Fields puts it, “as a fluke.” When her first niece was born, she wanted to throw her an unforgettable first birthday party. Around that time, reality shows were glamorizing extravagant teen birthdays, and Fields wanted in on the action. She signed up for decorating classes at Richland and drove to Monticello every Monday for months, learning the fundamentals. 

Fields had always wanted to go to school for design, but her parents shut that down. “My parents told me they weren’t going to pay for that, so I had to find something else,” she says. 

Instead, she became a pharmacist. Baking was just a creative side hobby. To my surprise, her signature item was one she despised in the beginning. “I actually hated doing cupcakes because doing the same thing over and over again just was killing me,” she says. But when she finally gave herself permission to make cupcakes her way, big, bold, and artistic, everything clicked. “Eighteen years later, here I am.”

For 13 years, she ran SugaFix out of her home while juggling full-time pharmacy work. The pandemic pushed her to the edge of burnout, which ultimately gave her the motivation to step back from pharmacy and go brick-and-mortar. 

Now, when customers walk into SugaFix, they walk into a dessert playground. The menu goes far beyond cupcakes; there are cookies, cookie cakes, brownies, and brookies. Feeling parched? SugaFix can quench your thirst with milkshakes, freak shakes, and dirty sodas. For Fields, inspiration can show up anywhere. 

“One time, my husband and I went to Ancho and Agave in Bloomington,” Fields says. “They had a churro with banana ice cream, and I came up with a banana churro cupcake because of that.”

Field’s one-of-a-kind cupcakes.

Even with all the creative experimenting, there are six cupcakes you can always count on: Mom’s Favorite, triple lemon, fresh strawberry, red velvet, wedding cake, and triple chocolate. Mom’s Favorite, a yellow butter cake with chocolate icing, is named after Fields’ mother, who adored that cake. “She talked about it all the time when I was growing up,” Fields says.

Her baking style is split between structure and chaos. “I’m a systems girl,” she says. “I do the same things in the same order all the time.” Decorating, though, is another story entirely. “The team calls me the tornado.”

But what truly defines SugaFix is its care for the community. Fields hosts summer decorating parties and partners with Decatur Public Schools to help kids learn cake design during “Sugar Camp.” “I’ve got a heart for kids,” she says. “I’m born and raised in Decatur. My kids were born and raised here. I’m invested. I love my community, so I try to be a part of it and help it. Whatever I can do.”

Fields hopes that stepping into her shop gives people a moment to breathe. “I want them to forget about their day,” she says. “If they’re having a stressful day, be able to come in and see how bright and happy it is in here and for a few seconds not worry about what’s outside.”

For Millikin students, she makes it simple: “Number one, it’s the best cupcake you’re ever going to eat. And two, SugaFix is always evolving like a student.” Fields understands the ups and downs of college life. “Some days you think you’re gonna take over the world, and some days you think you’re gonna flunk out. You can come in, get a milkshake, get a cupcake, and just take a break. Take a breather. Have a little fun. Tap into your childlike self and then go back to the grind.”

Even with the whirlwind of orders, customers, and kids’ programs, Fields once again works full-time as a pharmacist. It’s a life of constant motion, and somehow, she makes it look easy. If you're looking for a sweet treat as a pick-me-up, you can find SugaFix Designer Dessert Studio at 2950 N Water St # 310, Decatur, IL 62526.