Sophie Coates says that she has something of a sweet tooth. “I’ve always enjoyed sugary treats,” she confesses. “I grew up with Graul’s cakes.”

About four years ago, Coates, who owns Sugar Coates Bakery, started making her own cakes. And as her designs became more elaborate, her Homeland neighbors took notice. “They asked me to make their kids’ birthday cakes,” she says. And she obliged.

For Coates, part of the attraction is that not only do the cakes look beautiful—each is an edible work of art with their ganache drips and sprays of fresh flowers—but they taste great, too.  “Some people doctor cake mixes, but I make my cakes from scratch,” says Coates, who has four children. It was when she and her husband were newly married that Coates was inspired to bake on a more regular basis.

“I was like, ‘I want to start having cookie dough in the fridge,’ and I’d make cookies every once in a while,” she recalls. “Then, when I was pregnant with our fourth child, it was an-all-the-time, bomb-has-gone-off-in-the-kitchen pastime.”

In 2017, Coates turned her hobby into an official business—and it hasn’t taken very long for it to get notice. Her melting ice cream cone cake was featured in Food Network Magazine in October 2020. And her drip cake has been posted almost two million times on Instagram.

Coates usually bakes during the day, then decorates in the evening. “I put on an audiobook and peacefully do my thing,” she says.

That said, she admits, “People say they find making cakes to be therapeutic, but sometimes it’s stressful.” Especially when her family expects her to make cakes on demand. “When it comes to making my kids’ birthday cakes, I’m like, ‘Make it yourself,’” cracks Coates.

“How do I love thee?” Let us count the ways—a dozen doughnuts, a
handful of chocolates, two almond croissants, and three scoops of ice
cream. 

Okay, maybe that’s not exactly what Elizabeth Barrett Browning
had in mind. But sonnets aside, sweets and love are a natural pair any
time of year, especially in February when a gift of candy means more
than calories on Valentine’s Day. In fact, it’s the fourth biggest
holiday for confectionery purchases (after Halloween, Easter, and
Christmas), according to candyusa.com. With that in mind, we went in search of the best sweets that Baltimore has to offer.

A heart-shaped box might be nice, but there are lots of other ways to
woo your lover’s sweet tooth. Here are 50 of our favorite treats.

SugarBaker’s Cakes

752 Frederick Rd., Catonsville, 410-788-9478.

Owner
Jamie Williams has gotten lots of exposure for her edible works of arts
in bridal magazines, on TV shows (Today and Whose Wedding Is It
Anyway?), and through celebrity wedding gigs (though she doesn’t bake
and tell). She also runs a bustling retail business in Catonsville.
Selections change daily, but if you’re lucky, the Smith Island cake
(yellow cake with fudge icing and melted peanut-butter cups) or the
country carrot cake will be available in the display case.

Editor’s pick: Amaretto-raspberry cake—almond cake infused with a layer of amaretto buttercream and raspberry filling.

Charm City Cakes

2936 Remington Ave., 410-235-9229.

Back
when most cakes were baked in rounds or squares, Charm City Cakes was
thinking outside the (cake) box with a King Tut sarcophagus cake and an
edible facsimile of Hogwarts Castle. Duff Goldman et al still specialize
in edible masterpieces, but for those of us who don’t necessarily need a
culinary replica of the Millennium Falcon, “cake jars”—filled with
pecan pie and dozens of other flavors—are on hand for $9.

Editor’s pick: Pumpkin chocolate-chip cake with Swiss buttercream.

Hamilton Bakery

5414 Harford Rd., 410-254-0797.

With
its retro décor and amiable employees, the bakery may seem low-key, but
there’s nothing simple about its very serious selection of
confections—like round layer cakes in red velvet, German chocolate,
Black Forest, and coconut, to name a few.

Editor’s pick:
Chocolate Overload cake—a three-layer chocolate cake with chocolate
mousse and chocolate ganache smothered in chocolate buttercream and
finished with chocolate ganache.

Woodlea Bakery

Several locations including 4905 Belair Rd., 410-488-7717.

Not
much has changed here since opening day in 1943—and that’s a good
thing. Owned by the Hergenroeder family and now in its fourth
generation, this is a neighborhood bakery at its best—with an
eager-to-help staff and prices from yesteryear. (A pineapple upside-down
cake rings in at $7.95, for example.)

Editor’s pick: German chocolate cake.

Yia Yia’s Bakery

9415 Philadelphia Rd., 410-238-2253.

Double
T Diner’s John, Louis, and Tom Korologos are the masterminds behind the
over-the-top desserts at Yia Yia’s. (The name is Greek for
grandmother.) You’ll find towering cakes of coconut, aromatic passion
fruit, and a Black Forest version with alternating layers of yellow and
chocolate cake.

Editor’s pick: The strawberry New York-style cheesecake with fresh glazed berries.

Layered Past Fun Fact

In
the 1800s, Smith Island natives sent these cakes with the waterman on
the autumn oyster harvest. Fudge was used instead of buttercream
frosting in order to preserve freshness longer.

Birthday Candle Record

48: Record-holding number of candles, in thousands, on a birthday cake (48,523 to be exact).*

*According to Guinness World Records.