HELL'S KITCHEN — A bakery that whips up tasty treats for the city's celebrities finally has a working oven again — more than two months after its gas was shut off.
Edie Connolly, who has baked cakes, cupcakes and cookies for years out of her Hell's Kitchen storefront Cakes 'N Shapes, was shocked to find her gas turned off in mid-March, rendering her industrial oven useless.
After a leak forced inspectors to shut down the bakery's gas line, Connolly had shuttled all her ingredients to a much smaller, off-site oven, where she had to work on cakes throughout the night to keep up with her orders.
For decades, Connolly has made baked goods embossed with edible graphic prints for celebrities including Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts.
The gas came back on last Friday, two months and nine days after Department of Buildings inspectors found the gas lines to the building at 464-6 W. 51st St. were leaking. Connolly's landlord, the Clinton Housing Development Company, tried to make the repairs as quickly as possible, but officials there said they were bogged down by the city's red tape.
After the gas was restored, "Saturday night, I slept a full 12 hours," Connolly said.
She can now return to baking six cakes at a time in about an hour using her Vulcan industrial gas oven.
In all, Connolly said the gas shutoff cost her thousands of dollars, including the price of transporting her ingredients and because she was forced to turn down business.
The gas shutdown had also affected eight apartments in the building.
