For Heather Tocco to have been in business for roughly 11 years, her Rochester-based Home Bakery must have a strong and loyal clientele. However, her business’ latest creation, centered around a Detroit Lions star, has turned things on its head a bit.

Inspired by the Detroit Lions’ current success, Tocco and her team of about 11 decorators brainstormed ideas for a team-themed cake but initially were unsure which direction to take.

Ultimately, they decided on wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown performing a handstand touchdown celebration during a Week 9 win over the Green Bay Packers.

“We have a lot of diehard Lions fans who work here as well, and it actually came together pretty easily,” Tocco told MLive. ”I think St. Brown’s image became pretty iconic, and we’re like, ‘We’ve never done a cake on its head before — a person on its head,’ so we started there, and then we did the marquee letters to kind of represent old Detroit. This team has gone through so much, and we’re finally (winning). It’s so exciting.

“And then the black lion is to represent where the team’s at now — when they put the black lion on the field and the black uniforms. So it was pretty easy. And then, if you’ve listened to any of the other interviews I’ve done, I’m a big fan of coach Dan Campbell’s style of leadership. So we included a Dan Campbell quote on one of the windows as well.”

The design of the St. Brown cake has become so popular that Michiganders have begun recreating the image themselves — some out of snow.

Tocco’s business, which will celebrate its 11th anniversary Feb. 18, specializes in desserts, wedding cakes, and character-themed cakes.

Visitors to the bakery’s second floor can find life-sized cakes of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast characters, Peanuts’ Charlie Brown, the Night King from Game of Thrones and more.

When creating these specialty designs, Tocco usually keeps close tabs on the hours involved, but due to the holiday season, she wasn’t able to maintain an accurate count for the St. Brown display. Even an estimate provides context for the time invested, though.

“At bare minimum — bare, bare minimum — I’ve got to think that, with creating the marquee letters and the lion, we have at least 200 hours into the display,” Tocco said.

“I’ve got to imagine there’s at least 50-plus pounds of fondant on him. The amount of cake we do when we’re doing those displays — the portions — there’s Rice Krispies, there’s some Styrofoam in there.

“We generally will let that cake dehydrate and compress because, if we don’t let it happen ahead of time, it’s just going to sink and rot in the window, quite literally.”

For some, hearing Styrofoam is in the cake raises questions about its purpose. Tocco explained that it was used to create the base of St. Brown’s shoulders, allowing her to add plates for support in the creation, which took three people to move to the display window.

“When you have cake and gravity, they don’t go hand in hand, so there’ll be Styrofoam to create the base of his shoulders,” Tocco said. “Also, I’m thankful that I did that because I was really hoping that I wouldn’t have to add additional supports.

“If you see, there are two supports that go through his shoulders. Initially, I just started with one threaded rod with a series of boards that go into two legs. I had prepared, just in case he was too wobbly, to be able to put those supports in. And unfortunately, I had to. He was halfway done, and I bumped it, and it kind of went like this. I was like, ‘You know what? We don’t want him falling over in the window.’”

Tocco said that once the design was on display, more than 1,000 people showed up during the first weekend to take pictures, with hundreds visiting daily afterward.

While the display alone increased traffic and sales, the Lions’ wide receiver himself took things to another level after hearing about the cake.

On the St. Brown Podcast, which Amon-Ra co-hosts with his brother Equanimeous, the receiver announced a giveaway for two tickets to Detroit’s divisional round game Saturday against the Washington Commanders. Anyone who makes a purchase at Home Bakery between Jan. 13-16 will be automatically entered for a chance to win the tickets.

“Our phones have been going crazy. I suspect that when the actual event happens, we will have lengthy lines out the door,” Tocco said

The Lions will officially begin their quest for the Super Bowl with this weekend’s divisional home game at Ford Field. When asked if she has anything planned if the Lions make it to New Orleans, Tocco smiled and shared one simple sentence.

“There is an addition to the window, if that happens, for sure. It’s going to probably look a lot like a trophy.”