Prepare your sweet tooth, because a new cupcake boutique has just opened in Warwick. Diane’s Delectables, located on Post Road, had their soft opening last week, but the boutique was the business that almost wasn’t. Between fear, doubt and a heart attack, Diane Dorsey’s journey to opening her first business was a long one.

Diane, 51, grew up in Pawtucket and has been “crafty” her whole life. She crocheted, sewed, made dolls and was in love with being creative growing up. She was introduced to cake decorating after her mother began taking a class and Diane began helping her mother practice at home. Having also enjoyed baking her whole life, it was like bringing her two passions together. Diane would try her hand at her very first cake for a friend’s 16th birthday.

After that, Diane would forget about cake decorating for a while. In her 20s, she went onto a slew of other occupations that taught her many valuable lessons but weren’t fulfilling.

She and her husband, James Dorsey, who grew up in Warwick, were pregnant with their first daughter, Taylor, now 17, and Diane was working at a bank. She really wanted to be able to stay home with her daughter but knew she also needed some income. It was Diane’s sister who suggested she revisit her love of cake decorating.

Although people now assume Diane went to school for baking and cake decorating, in truth, she only took one class at Michael’s Arts and Crafts.

“For the most part I am self-taught. Everyone has their gift, and this happens to be mine. I am very lucky and grateful that it came to me quickly and naturally,” Diane said.

Diane began making cakes and confections for her friends and family for weddings, birthdays and other special occasions, then for friends of friends and her treats began to “blossom.”

Then seven years ago Diane and her family, James, Taylor and second daughter Alina, age 8, moved to Warwick. Not long after the move, Diane began thinking of opening her own business, offering her cakes and confections to more than just people who heard of her through the grapevine. She would tour different facilities, but seeing the prices for rent she began to worry and become “scared out of her wits” and stopped her search. After some time she would try again, only to go through the same process. Only a few months ago the idea popped into her mind again and she found the space on Post Road, and things “just clicked.”

In the past, realtors had tried to “talk her out” of beginning her own business, that it “wasn’t worth it,” but this time when she told the realtor not to try to talk her out of it they actually responded positively.

“It was very disheartening to hear these realtors talk down to my idea, but this realtor said I had to go for it, that is I didn’t at least try how would I ever know,” Diane said.

In May Diane began renovations of the space, hoping to open for the summer months.

There is no history of heart disease in Diane’s family and she has always considered herself relatively healthy, but she began to have chest pains that would sometimes move towards her jaw and down her arm. She chalked it up to the stress, although the good stress, of finally opening the business she had spent years dreaming of.

Then at the end of June, at a family reunion in Massachusetts, Diane experienced the chest pain again but worse and she began to sweat as well. An ambulance was called, but Diane expected doctors to tell her there was nothing. She was completely surprised when they told her she had experienced a heart attack.

She was admitted for four days and then experienced another mild attack at the beginning of July and had to be admitted for another five days over 4th of July weekend.

Diane said, “Many people may have put this on the back burner, but I put my nose to the grindstone to open up Diane’s Delectables.”

She was able to open last week and is expected to have a grand opening in the coming weeks.

Diane’s Delectables, a self-declared “cupcake boutique,” offers jumbo cupcakes in all sorts of fancy flavors, from banana split to Oreo, and will have gourmet donuts, a make your own cupcake bar and homemade ice cream in the coming weeks. The company also does custom-made cakes and cupcakes for special occasions.

“We aren’t fooling around,” Diane said. “We want to be the best in everything we do. These aren’t just cupcakes, it’s an experience.”

Although only open for about a week, Diane said they have had a great reception not only from friends and family but also from the local community. People often comment on the warm and inviting atmosphere. Already, Diane’s Delectables has had repeat customers.

Diane’s biggest fans and supporters are her husband, who she said she could never do this without, and her two daughters. The entire family has had a part in opening up the business, and Taylor, who just graduated high school, will also be helping her mother in the boutique and Alina, when she’s not in school, enjoys baking with her mother.

Diane is excited to move forward and build a “rapport” with the community. She understands how important occasions like weddings and birthdays can be and Diane said she is honored to have a part in making those events special with her cakes.

For many people, a heart attack would have put a new business on the back burner, waiting a while to move forward on an opening.

“I believe in my heart this is what I am meant to do. It’s true for everyone, fear is what holds us back,” Diane said. “For so many years I made excuses, although everyone wanted me to open a shop. After years I broke through that fear and there was no turning back no matter what happened, even a heart attack. I’ve come too far to back down now.”

Diane’s Delectables is located at 1565 Post Road in Warwick. Currently, the cupcake boutique is closed on Sundays and Mondays and open from noon until 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with consultations for custom-made cakes available after 6 p.m. Consultations are by appointment only and can be made by contacting Diane herself at either dianedorsey@verizon.net or calling 632-1756.