Sweet Love: A Bakery Crush on Panaderia Latina Bakery, Vancouver BC

The awesomest part about being a Cake Gumshoe? Discovering totally sweet bakeries all over the world. And, getting sweet tips on new ones to discover from customers and friends.

And here's a sweet tip from CakeSpy Shop customer Charlotte, who recently visited from Vancouver. During her visit she mentioned her love for a sweet spot called Honey, but was kind enough to update me on another favorite:

When I got home I remembered the place right around the corner from my house!! It is a Latin Bakery with some grocery products.

Family run, custard and dulce le leche as far as the eye can see, and huge portions. The apple custard slice is my usual. It could feed two..... The bakery is on Joyce St. in the Collingwood neighbourhood, steps away from the Joyce St. skytrain station.

Well, if you're going to Vancouver, consider this your official tip-off for panaderia paradise!

Panaderia Latina Bakery, 4906 Joyce Street, Vancouver BC.

Sweet Inspiration: Dessert Travels with Cake Gumshoe Nicholas

So, I have a totally sweet customer named Nicholas. He's basically the ideal customer: he comes in and buys stuff, and then tells me all about the delicious sweets he eats when he travels the world. Just looking at his pictures is bound to evoke some seriously sweet wanderlust. Here's where he's been recently:

First, how about some macarons from Per Olsson Choklad & Konditori, in Stockholm? Nicholas picked a very nice duo of Raspberry (pictured at the top of the post) and Licorice (pictured below)--don't you wish you could have been there, too?
But if macarons aren't your thing, he also took another totally sweet shot at Gateau (which he previously reported on) of the bakery case, just to give us all something to dream on.

Sweet armchair travels to all! Rumor has it that Nicholas is off to Turkey next, poor thing--can't wait to see the photos!

Sweet Love: A Bakery Crush on A La Mode Pies, Seattle

The time is Pie--er, high--to discover some delicious new pies in Seattle. 

I'm happy to share my newest discovery: A La Mode Pies, a new company which is currently running a fairly small operation, working on a custom order and wholesale basis in Seattle (as I learned from owner and "Pie Guy" Chris Porter, a retail location is the ultimate goal; for the moment, though, if you want to try it by the slice, the pies can be found most reliably at Knee High Stocking Co.)

Why are they worth seeking out? Well, for me, it comes down to one beautiful, beautiful phrase: "Chocolate-Caramel Pecan Tart". This beauty is described as a "gift to your sweet tooth"--comprised of bittersweet chocolate ganache lining an all-butter crust, which is then filled in with toasted pecans and a perfectly balanced, rich homemade caramel. 

Another lovely which has captured my attentions is the fetching "Chocolate Cream With Pretzel Crust", which sounds like the perfect unity of sweet and salty (and we all know how delicious chocolate and pretzel are together!).

And--OMG, cute!--they have LolliPies!

And of course, if you like, you know, health food, they also have fruit pies, including the signature "Blue Hawaiian" (blueberry, pineapple, and coconut) and seasonal variations such as Sour Cherry.

You can hit them up online to order entire pies, or you can visit Seattle's Knee High Stocking Co. to grab a slice today.

Sweet Love: A Bakery Crush on Freshly Baked, Los Angeles

Now, there are countless reasons why Freshly Baked, a gourmet cookie company in Los Angeles, deserves your love and sweet affection.

But if pressed, I'd offer these up as some of the primary reasons:

1. Their mission statement, as stated on the front page of their website, may bring tears to your eyes: "Forget about carbs, sugar, and fat grams. Our cookies are meant to be eaten, not analyzed."
2. Said cookies come in flavors which give shout-outs to, but aren't quite, traditional flavors: for instance, Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel, Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip, Strawberry White Chocolate, Banana chocolate Chip Walnut, and Root Beer Float (!). Oh, and they do something called the "OMG" which is comprised of half cookie, half ice cream. Like, OMG!
3. The cookies all come in hand-graffiti'ed boxes with Keith Haring-esque designs, so that like snowflakes, no two are alike. I'm tempted to say something about the anti cookie-cutter effect...
4. The company has a sweet story: owner Eric Weston has had a love affair with the cookie since he was a wee lad (he'll show you an adorable photo) and while a talented actor-comedian he decided to take his penchant for unsusal cookie creations to the local LA Derby Doll arena and see if he could sell his wares to all the local hipsters. To his great delight (and theirs), he was a hit and is now delivering his goods to all the hip coffee shops all around town!

Of course, these cookies were recommended by Cake Gumshoe Renee, who says that the "cookies are crackalicious, seriously. I'm very persnickety about my cookie selections, but his Nutty Bavarain Love Biscuit (peanut butter chocolate pretzel) cookie makes me want to curse with pleasure."

Freshly Baked will soon be debuting a cookie truck which will deliver mobile cookies throughout LA; til then, cookies are currently available at various coffee shops in the Los Angeles area, and can be special ordered for local delivery or nationwide shipment; find out more on their site, freshly-baked.com. Oh, and you can follow them on Twitter, if you're into that.

Sweet Love: A Bakery Crush on Sugar Couture

What happens when a documentary film producer decides to become a pastry chef?

You get delicious desserts of cinematic proportions!

This is the story behind Penny Stankiewicz, owner of Sugar Couture in NYC. What started out as taking a pastry course as a bit of a lark has turned into a full fledged custom dessert business with some serious clients: Sugar Couture has fattened up stars like Tony Bennett, John Mayer, Wyclef Jean, Hugh Jackman, Adele, Hayley Duff, Russel Simmons, Betsey Johnson and Donna Karan at various events. Not that I'm starstruck or anything.

And I can see why the stars flock to these sweet treats: with gorgeous cakes like the ones pictured (and yes, the one to the left does have braces), which come in flavors like "ultra rich butter" and "deep chocolate" (can't you just taste them?) and a signature mini Boston Creme Pie, I am a bit in love myself.

If you're in the NYC area, you can get ahold of some of Sugar Couture's desserts by custom order; for a behind the scenes look, check out the blog.

Sweet Love: A Bakery Crush on Smitten Bake Shop, Bay Area CA

When sweetness and cuteness are combined, what can I say? CakeSpy is absolutely smitten.

And the most recent crush? Smitten Bake Shop, in the East SF Bay Area. They don't have a retail storefront--in fact, they barely have a website--but they sure do have plenty of sweetness. As their website says, "our website may not be up and running yet, but our ovens are!". They are currently available for custom orders.

Per an email from co-owner Lisa, here's the story:

I do the baking and my partner Debra handles the biz and financial side. I bake out of a restaurant on Mondays when they're closed, but as we're getting busier, are looking high and low for a place with more flexibility/hours. We were surprisingly (happily) buried in Mother's Day orders, especially for our "Love You" sour cream heart cookies, and looking very forward to having a permanent home soon so we can be ready for the holidays.

Till then, find out more at their work-in-progress site, smittenbakeshop.com.

Sweet Love: A Bakery Crush on Brooklyn Treat Shoppe, Brooklyn NY

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, at least one of them from the above photo is yum.

And it should serve to tell you pretty much why Brooklyn Treat Shoppe is CakeSpy's latest Bakery Crush!

This dessert catering company (read: no retail storefront at the moment), as the name might imply, is based in the borough of Brooklyn, and they specialize in sweets: cakes, cheesecakes, cookies, cupcakes, and other sweets, some of which don't start with the letter "c". They also do "cake art", including this sweet treat which vaguely resembles a cartoon version of the Seagram building (in the sweetest way possible!):Testimonials are loving: "to die for" and "what dreams are made of" are basically the tone of fans. Yup--chef Toniann Salvato sure does have a sweet future, based on what I see!

Check out the official Brooklyn Treat Shoppe website here; follow them on Twitter here.

Sweet Love: A Bakery Crush on Pine State Biscuits, Portland, OR

Image c/o Pine State BiscuitsOK, so Pine State Biscuits isn't technically a bakery--you'd be more likely to hit them up for hearty breakfast fare than sweet treats.

But the core of their business is biscuits, and everyone knows that the beauty of the biscuit is its versatility.

And while serious savory eaters might enjoy "The Reggie" (a biscuit with fried chicken, cheese, bacon, and gravy) or the "McIsley" (fried chicken with pickles, mustard, and honey), there are options for the sweet-lover too.

I'm talking simple, but oh-so-pleasurable: Biscuits. With. Seasonal. Fruit. And. Whipped. Cream.

Is there anything more pleasurable than digging into a buttery biscuit topped with rich, sweet cream, complemented by fresh fruit? Maybe, but the list of things less pleasurable is far longer than the list of things more pleasurable, I'd be willing to place a wager on that.

Pine State Biscuits, multiple locations; visit pinestatebiscuits.com for more information.

Sweet Love: A Bakery Crush on American Cupcake, San Francisco

Don't get me wrong: there are many reasons why one should desire to be in San Francisco. It's cool, full of good burritos and fun people watching, and it's gorgeous. However, right now all of those reasons are being put to the side, because my wanderlust is fueled by one thing only: American Cupcake.

Per DailyCandy (where I discovered this wondrous place),

Despite the saccharine name, this is no kid’s birthday party venue. Decidedly 21-and-over fare includes pork sliders with Jack-and-Coke BBQ sauce and champagne cocktails with intriguing names like the Drunken Ballerina.

And if that didn't make you want to book a one-way ticket to the foggy city, let's just take a gander at the sweets menu (copied in its entirety below):

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Cupcakes

chocolate / vanilla / black & tan / tan & black / red velvet / lemon / coconut chocolate coconut / butterscotch / chocolate mint / bubblegum / cotton candy red hot / pixie stixTM / chocolate peanut butter / passion fruit

single | flight

Ice Cream or Old Fashioned Sundae

three twins chocolate, vanilla or coffee | all the fixins

Cupcake Split

cupcakes | ice cream | bananas | all the fixins

Mad Tea Party (serves 10) naked cupcakes loaded with ice cream, frosting, and all the fixins

Whoopie Pie

classic chocolate | vanilla | red velvet

Cotton Candy

cone or big bowl

Candy Apple

classic cherry red

Margarita Pie

frozen tequila lime| salted pretzel crust

“Snickers Bar”

soft chocolate cookie | caramel | salted peanuts

Red Velvet Bread Pudding

red velvet cake | housemade custard

Banana Nilla Pudding

banana pudding | nilla wafers | whipped cream

Root Beer Float

root beer | vanilla ice cream

Beer Float

coconut porter | vanilla ice cream

Fried Oreos

(no description necessary)

......................

Aren't you feeling the love, too? American Cupcake is located at 1919 Union Street in San Francisco, and will have its grand opening on May 1 at noon; find out more at americancupcake.com.

Sweet Love: A Bakery Crush on Dollhouse Bake Shoppe, Los Angeles

All photos c/o Dollhouse Bake ShoppeEveryone knows that small things are cute. But at Los Angeles-based Dollhouse Bake Shop, not only are the goods adorable, but totally sweet (literally) too--taking form as little ice cream, candied apple, or animal-shaped confections which are--surprise!--filled with cake truffle filling! Here's the story about -- and many pictures from -- CakeSpy's latest online bakery crush.

Dollhouse Bake Shoppe was founded by owner Lindsay Morton in 2009. Soon after applying to grad school, she decided to pursue her dream instead and moved back to her hometown in LA to start a business that brings smiles to faces, and sweetens lives.

Combining her love for sweets with her innate artistic flare, she followed her heart and turned her dream into a reality when Dollhouse Bake Shoppe was open for business. Her vision to create a unique and tasty line of delectable "dollhouse size" desserts has become her signature approach in this vastly growing market. By putting her own twist on her favorite desserts she introduced Dollhouse Bake Shoppe's signature and best selling item, the "Cakelet", and created a chocolate canvas to decorate each hand sculpted piece into an edible work of art.

With a variety of anything but ordinary flavors, Lindsay's endless creativity, and of course, everything bite sized, Dollhouse Bake Shoppe makes the perfect treats to match the theme of any event, from birthdays to weddings, showers, parties, or for those simply craving a little something sweet without the guilt of indulging."

Dollhouse Bake Shoppe baked goods are available by special order / delivery in the LA area; additionally, some (but not all) of the items can be shipped. For more information, visit dollhousebakeshoppe.com.