Kathy Filosi Nelson was making toffee for family and friends four years ago when her friend Sylva Lin, owner of Culinary Architecture, posed the idea of selling it at her Pigtown gourmet grocery shop.

“Sylva said I could use her kitchen and she encouraged me to get a license,” says Nelson, a former writer for Today. After soon securing a license, a brand— MFG Toffee (cheekily short for “Maryland’s Finest and Greatest”)—was born.

Nelson’s original toffee recipe was inspired by her Italian grandmother, Catherine Castaldo. “She came over on a ship from Italy,” says Nelson. “And in her own handwriting—it was half-Italian, half-English—was a recipe for English toffee. She must have met a nice British lady on the voyage and they cobbled together a recipe.”

Through the years, Nelson has developed a variety of new flavors including Italian Cappuccino, which she says, “tastes like a cup of coffee in a single bite,” and Canadian Maple Pecan to honor her husband’s heritage. “I consider it toffee 2.0,” says Nelson, whose candy is available online, as well as at local shops including Eddie’s, Atwater’s, and, of course, Culinary Architecture. “This toffee is not just for your grandmother anymore. We’re putting a fresh spin on it.”

In January, Nelson changed the company’s name to MFG Toffee & Bark to reflect her “cracked” candy creations. Barks, which include Japanese Matcha Lin (named for Sylva) and Turkish Apricot Pistachio, are similarly innovative.

“I went with globally inspired flavors,” she says. “My ideas comes from waking up at two in the morning and thinking, ‘What do they grow in Turkey or Africa?’ Or, ‘Oh, there are pistachios in the Middle East!’ I like to layer flavors but not so much that you miss them—it’s been a lot of trial and error.”

As the summer heat reaches its peak, there’s no better way to chill out than with a scoop of this classic sweat treat. Whether you’re looking to venture to a new shop, or just trying to mix things up by sampling some fun flavors at your go-to neighborhood spot, here are our picks for the top 22 local creameries.

On Valentine’s Day in 2016, spouses Dane Thibodeaux and Manuel “Manny” Sanchez set up a table outside their California home and posted a sign that read “French macarons” to see if they’d have any luck selling their homemade treats, the classic French cookie that wowed them on a trip to Paris years ago. Within hours, they were sold out of every flavor—chocolate, vanilla, salted caramel, lemon, and raspberry—and a business idea was born.

Fast-forward to 2017, when the couple, having met in Hampden years ago, moved back to Baltimore. The duo eventually sold their sweets at farmers’ markets, with sights set on opening a brick-and-mortar shop. The answer to their dreams is Sacré Sucré in Fells Point.

It’s the answer to our dreams, as well.

Buyer beware: Standing in front of the display case can be deeply disorienting just as you think you’ve made up your mind and settled on something, you’ll change it again. We can save you some tsuris. Skip lunch (or dinner) and consider one of everything, working from left to right, as we did. There’s a dense and delicious mile-high brownie glazed with chocolate caramel; a fanciful Almost Spring tea cake; a carnival of color with lemon cake and layers of whipped mascarpone cream and raspberry preserves sandwiched between raspberry macarons; a Manolo petit gateau with coffee mousse, hazelnut cream, and hazelnut dacquoise; and a pistachio cream-filled éclair with its enticing green white chocolate and gold dust glaze.

Also on offer is the robin’s egg blue mirror-glazed Sofia Petit, a layered confection of Earl Grey mousse, almond ganache, and almond praline that deserves placement on a pedestal at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

And while everyone and their mère is doing a macaron these days, these morsels—in a panoply of flavors, including coffee, pistachio, rose, and Mission Fig—rival anything you’d find in France. (Clearly, Baltimoreans agree—the duo sells between 1,200 and 1,500 of the confections a week.)

Beyond the pastry case, there’s a lovely assortment of loose-leaf teas and kombucha, as well as bags of housemade marshmallows strewn with salted caramel or dark chocolate. (Buy both.) Like their well-paired ingredients, Thibodeaux and Sanchez go together perfectly. Thibodeaux attended culinary school at Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island, and is a passionate cook, while Sanchez, who had a career in cybersecurity, has always been interested in baking.

“I cook really well,” says Thibodeaux. “I know my flavors, but I’m not a measurer—I’m not a precise person, so for me it was really hard to do this. With Manny, it’s two grams, not more, not less. And I’m like, ‘Well, it looks like two grams.’” By any measure, the new bakery is one of Baltimore’s best.

These days, everything is artisanal—bread, cheese, ice cream, even pudding. For Denisha “Dawn” Hightower, the brains behind mobile pudding business Love Puddin’, the recipe for the scratch-made treat is rooted in her childhood. “My aunt was like our dessert queen,” Hightower says of her Aunt Nina, whom she assisted in the kitchen as a young girl. “Hers wasn’t your typical pudding in a cup. It was a really rich, gourmet type of pudding.”

Hightower decided to use her aunt’s cookie-crumbled “dirt” recipe as the inspiration to start her venture. She began making the cups for coworkers and friends in 2013, and two years later, after a decade working for Child Protective Services, Hightower decided to make peddling pudding her full-time gig. “I always wanted to be an entrepreneur,” she says. “After my brother passed away in 2014, I used that time off to really decide what I wanted to do for myself. I ended up leaving my job, and I’ve been doing this ever since.”

When preparing for pop-ups and deliveries in her brightly decaled Ford Transit Connect van—lovingly referred to as “Big Pink”—it takes Hightower nearly four hours to mix more than six gallons of pudding, which she sells in 8-oz. containers for $5 each. Signature flavors include a classic banana with Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies, strawberry-crunch, snickerdoodle, red velvet, cinnamon topped with apple pie pieces, and, of course, “Aunt Nina’s Low-Down Dirt,” made with crushed Oreo cookies.

With more than 7,000 followers on Instagram, Love Puddin’ has put the craft confection on the map for local dessert fiends, and Hightower has paved the way for other purveyors to embrace the trend. She has big dreams for the business in the future, including a standalone location and a larger truck that offers DIY toppings.

Above all, Hightower says she’s most grateful to her customers, who have come out in droves to get their fix. “We call them our ‘pudding pops,’” she says. “It’s beautiful to have that type of support from people who love what you do.”

Instagram: @love_puddin
Where to buy: Frequent pop-ups in Mondawmin, East Baltimore, Towson, Owings Mills, and White Marsh.
Deliveries: 12:30-7:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Phone: 443-622-9915

Jamal Wiggins makes banana pudding the way his grandmother used to, but with a sugary spin. His confectionary-on-wheels, Crazy Puddings, tops traditional banana custard with everything from chocolate chip cookies to Reese’s cups.

“There’s definitely a lot of love and time put into it,” he says. “It has to sit for a couple hours to get to where you’re either tasting a banana or a cookie in every scoop.”

Since hitting the streets last year, Wiggins has enjoyed interacting with the community and seeing smiles after first-timers take their first bite.

“I think that’s Baltimore,” he says. “If you’ve got something good, people are going to tell you.”

Instagram: @crazy_puddings
Favorite flavors: Chocolate chip, Reese’s, Oreo, and Buttercrunch made with old-school Linden’s cookies.
Price per cup: $5
Where to buy: Frequent pop-ups at Mondawmin Mall and in East Baltimore at North Avenue and Harford Road.
Phone: 443-791-4272

Husbands and co-owners Manuel Sanchez and Dane Thibodeaux have each bring their individual talents to Sacré Sucré, the Fells Point sweets shop that specializes in classic French macarons and fanciful desserts that taste as good as they look.

Sanchez, who formerly worked in cybersecurity, works in the kitchen, while Thibodeaux studied culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, works in the front of the retail space, making artisanal cups of loose-leaf tea and hawking the pastries.

We caught up with them on Monday morning, a rare day off from making—and selling—1,200 to 1,500 macarons a week.

How did you come to open up this sweet’s shop?
Manuel Sanchez: Some people think we just woke up one day and decided to do this. We’ve always made stuff at home I started trying to bake bread at home. Dane has always been super hands on about making food from scratch, like pasta and jams. I got started with bread, but it never really took off. It’s very difficult to make at home because of the oven temperature and you need a lot of equipment.

How did you learn to bake?
MS: It’s funny because my mom used to bake cakes, but I was never involved in the kitchen. Still, I find myself doing things that she used to do, like banging the cake pan to get the air bubbles out or adding syrup to cake batter to moisten it.

Dane, how did you get your start?
Dane Thibodeaux: With my cooking background, I cook really well, but I’m not a precise person, so doing this with Manny was really hard for me.

MS: Dane has given me the confidence to work in a kitchen—he had that background. Without him, I think I would have failed. I didn’t know enough to go into this alone.

Why did you start making macarons, specifically?
DT: On our trip to Paris in 2015, we had macarons—we weren’t even seeking them out, we just kept seeing them and had them because we were in Paris. For me, the fig macaron was the start. I wondered how they put fresh fig into a macaron. In America, it’s all butter creams and flavorings. When we came back, we started playing with recipes. After hundreds of times of failing, we finally got one that looked good.

When did you start selling them?
DT: When we lived in California, we were making them and giving them to friends and neighbors and we started making them more and selling them to them. But on Valentine’s Day, we put out a sign and a little table on the corner of our block that said French macarons. We made almost $200.

MS: The idea of opening a storefront was scary, so we started selling them at the farmers’ market. We thought that was a good introduction without a huge investment.

What inspired the name of the business?
DT: I’m from Louisiana and in Cajun the word “sacré” is a polite swear word. It’s a common curse word among older people. My grandparents, who spoke French, said it.

What made you come back to Baltimore after living in California?
MS: Most of our friends were here, and we wanted to move back. We met here, and we knew all the places here.

DT: It was like moving back home.

Do you feel like you’re filling a dessert void in the city?
MS: In Baltimore, I feel like if I want a quality pastry I have to go to a high-end hotel. There are not many options for a high-quality dessert beyond ice cream and doughnuts. In the U.S., dessert is often just an afterthought, but it can be just as great as a dinner entrée.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Manuel Sanchez’s name. Baltimore regrets the error.

It seems like everywhere we eat these days, what’s old is officially new again. Nostalgic foods have made a major comeback, with sentimental snacks such as ice cream, cookie dough, and, now, cotton candy—the simplest of summer treats—getting fashionable facelifts.

In Baltimore, the spun sugar is experiencing a sweet revival thanks to the family of B’More Fluff. Launched last October by siblings Colleen, Natalie, and Brian Kochesfahani, this local cotton candy company makes anything but the traditional pillowy puffs found on the faded boardwalks and state fair Ferris wheels of yesteryear.

Instead, the old-school sweet has been brought into the 21st century—each artisanal swirl is made with organic cane sugar and served in a variety of fun flavors, such as honey lavender, Key lime pie, and Champagne. As a side business to the sisters’ 3-year-old concierge service, the pint-sized pushcart serves sweet-tooths at weddings, birthday parties, and local events around the city.

For Brian, who spins the sugar while wearing a pink bowtie and plaid tailored sports coat, the sweetest thing is the interaction with customers, ranging from grandchildren to grandparents. “That’s the best part,” he says, “just making smiles all day long.”

Fun Facts:

• B’More Fluffers craft each cone one at a time and can make about 50 cones per hour.
• Using one tablespoon of sugar, each cone only packs about 50 calories, making it a guilt-free treat that won’t destroy your diet.
• Inspired by an Italian spun-sugar confection, cotton candy as we know it was first invented by a Tennessee dentist in 1897. It was later introduced at the 1904 World’s Fair as “fairy floss,” making its debut the same year as other seminal snacks such as Dr. Pepper, Cracker Jack, and Popsicles.
• Locals craving cotton candy can also find it at the Kids’ Corner in Camden Yards, this month’s Maryland State Fair, and as a flavor at local snowball stands.

Back in the day, old-time Baltimore bakeries were a dime a dozen. Every neighborhood had at least one. But along with streetcars and milk deliveries, they faded from public life in the latter half of the 20th century as consumers traded daily trips to mom-and-pop businesses for one-stop shopping at supermarkets. 

Happily, if you look in some of the less gentrified corners of the city, you can still find enduring examples. With its linoleum floors, baskets of breads behind the counter, and packages tied up with red and white bakery twine, Fenwick Bakery, located along Harford Road in Northeast Baltimore, is one such sweet spot.

The bakery originated when Swiss immigrant Ernest Uebersax and his wife, Alvena Buttner, opened a bakeshop in southwest Baltimore in 1913. In the ensuing decades, the bakery hopscotched around town before settling in its current location in 1971, by then with three of Ernest and Alvena’s five children at the helm. In the mid-’90s, when that second generation was ready to retire, the bakery was sold to longtime employees Al Meckel and Claudette Wilson, who still run it today using the original recipes.

Featuring cakes, pies, donuts, Danishes, breads, rolls, and cookies, the shop’s offerings are unfussy but plentiful. Most items—like the fruit-filled pastries and glazed donuts that glisten under the display case lights—are baked daily. (If you want to be the hero of your office coffee break, head in early to snag a tray of gooey pecan rolls.) Small batches of white breads and rolls are also produced daily, while the popular raisin bread and the traditional rye loaves are baked on Wednesdays and Fridays, respectively. But anything can be made to order, including decorated special-occasion cakes in varying shapes (round, sheet, tiered), sizes (cupcake-small, sheet cake-large), and flavors (carrot, devil’s food, and chocolate, among others).

It’s a pity that Fenwick’s signature peach cake—fat, juicy, local peaches nestled on a shallow tart-like crust and burnished with brown sugar—is available only in summer. But its fleetingness just makes it more precious. Mark your calendars for next year.

In the meantime, sate your sweet tooth with Fenwick’s pies, which are another highlight. A lattice-topped cherry pie oozed enough pleasantly tart cherries to qualify as a guilt-be-gone serving of fruit. And Fenwick does a brisk business in apple, apple crumb, pumpkin, pecan, and mince pies during the holidays. Also of note for harried holiday hosts and hostesses, Fenwick sells its own stuffing mixes in one-pound bags, as well as unbaked pie shells. Because if it can’t be homemade, at least it can be hometown made. Don’t worry, we won’t tell.

›› Fenwick Bakery 7219 Harford Rd. 410-444-6410, Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m.-4 p.m., Closed Sun.

Several years back, when Seton Rossini was working as an associate design director at Food & Wine, she started a blog, Pixel Whisk, chronicling her adventures in baking. Then, one day, out of the blue, prestige publisher W.W. Norton came calling.

“One of the editors said to me, ‘I love your blog,’” recounts the Annapolis resident. “‘What do you want to write for us?’”

The result is Sweet Envy: Deceptively Easy Desserts, Designed to Steal the Show, Rossini’s love letter to sugary stuff, from Limoncello Tarts to Irish Cream Marshmallows. Her dedication to desserts started early on.

“I come from a family of five,” explains Rossini, who wrote, designed, photographed, and illustrated the book. “My mom made a hot meal every night, but she wasn’t into sweets.”

Her mother, did, however, give her daughter free rein in the kitchen. “I would bake anything I wanted, whenever I wanted,” Rossini recalls.

And while the Parsons School of Design grad’s creations might look difficult to duplicate, baking neophytes should give it a go.

“These recipes do not require double boilers or candy thermometers,” she explains. “I’ve tried to make the techniques as simple as possible. You should never spend an entire day slaving away in the kitchen. Most of these recipes are the fastest possible route to the most beautiful desserts.”

Tips & Tricks

Follow Rossini’s simple tips for confectionary conquest.

1. Ugly cake still tastes great: “This tip came from celebrating my mother’s birthday,” says Rossini. “She spent forever making the cake and it fell on its way to the table. She scraped it off the ground, cut away the part that touched the floor, then cut it into slices and used more icing before serving. Each person was served an individual slice. No one ever knew. People only saw a pretty slice on the plate.”

2. Measure for measure: “Liquid measuring cups are different than dry measuring cups,” says Rossini. “Know the difference. It will make a big difference in the success of your project.”

3. You can’t sew a silk purse . . . “The most important thing in baking is using good ingredients,” says Rossini, “especially full-fat butter. The fewer ingredients, the more important it is that they are high-quality.”

Recipe: Rocky Road Cookies

These flourless, gluten-free goodies can be concocted in 10 (or less) minutes. “They have very few ingredients and they’re easy and delicious,” Rossini says.

• 2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 3 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts
• 6 large marshmallows, cut in half with kitchen scissors

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with liners or parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa, salt, and espresso powder. Mix in the egg whites and vanilla until smooth and no lumps remain. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts, stirring until fully incorporated and dough is gooey. Use a cookie scoop to drop round balls of dough on the baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches between cookies. Press a marshmallow half firmly into the top of each dough ball. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the marshmallows are nice and toasty on top. The cookies will look shiny and cracked. Cool slightly before eating. Makes one dozen cookies.

Photos from Sweet Envy: Deceptively Easy Desserts, Designed to Steal the Show by Seton Rossini. Copyright © 2015 by Seton Rossini. Reprinted by permission of W.W. Norton & Company.

Trisha’s Almond Toffee | While both working in merchandising at Abercrombie & Fitch in Columbus, OH, Brooke and Jordan Russ launched Trisha’s Almond Toffee on the side. Then, last year, when the couple moved to Maryland for Jordan’s job at Under Armour, they added a bit of Baltimore to their small-batch business. “We buy local as much as possible,” says Brooke, who sells her creative confections online, as well as at the Fells Point Farmers’ Market, Highlandtown Gallery, and Coffee Coffee in Bel Air. “The nuts come from Jeppi Nut in Lutherville, and we try to use Domino Sugar.” In addition to putting a Baltimore touch on the toffee (named for Jordan’s dear aunt Trisha), the candy is based on a traditional recipe for English toffee with one important difference. “Every other toffee maker out there only puts nuts on top,” says Brooke. “The fact that we have almonds in every bite is what sets us apart.”

Charm School Chocolates | Fresh from receiving his mechanical engineering degree at Carnegie Mellon University, Josh Rosen worked in Cleveland with the world’s largest welding company. And he was miserable. “I was bored out of my skull,” recalls the McDonogh School graduate. On a lark, the lifelong baker, who used a drill in lieu of a beater blade while baking in college, took a cooking class—and loved it. “One day my parents said, ‘Why not go to culinary school?’” Soon after, Rosen headed to the Culinary Institute of America, where he specialized in baking and pastries, eventually moving back to Baltimore to start Charm School Chocolates. His non-dairy, vegan-friendly bars, inspired by a short stint working in a vegan chocolate shop, are sourced from the Maya Mountains of Belize and are available at The Wine Source, Atwater’s, and Whole Foods Market in Mt. Washington. “Belize has an incredibly balanced bean,” says the chocolatier. “It’s fruity with lingering chocolate notes.”

“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.

When I first moved to Baltimore more than 20 years ago, everyone told me I had to try the Berger Cookie. “Life changing,” they said. “Best. Cookie. Ever.” So I bought a box. My first thought was the cookie looked unremarkable, but perhaps that was part of its charm? My second thought, after tasting it, was: THIS is the cookie everyone’s so gonzo about?

I admit that, all these years later, like some sort of cookie-based Stockholm Syndrome, I’ve come to sort like the misshapen fudgy disc, but I still maintain it’s a mediocre cookie, at best. Baltimore‘s former marketing director Jessie Peterson stepped up to the plate to challenge my opinion.

Max Weiss: The Berger Cookie, as far as I can tell, has two elements. The cookie and the blob of chocolate on top. Neither of these things is especially remarkable. The cookie is a generic shortbread and the fudgy top is not exactly Ghirardelli— it’s essentially a super sweet cross between chocolate icing and chocolate fudge, the kind of thing that leaves teeth marks when you bite into it (shudder). Basically, Berger Cookie, you had two jobs: Give us a great cookie and give us great chocolate on top. You get a C for both of them. What say you, Jessie?

Jessie Peterson: I say bananas. My grocery cart always comes to a screeching halt when I spot the golden Bergers. I say golden only because I swear a beam of light engulfs the rack that so luckily embraces each package of such magnificence. Examination of each package ensues. My mission: To find the blobbiest of them all. And by blobby, I am referring to the artful wisps and layered swirls of magma-esque fudgy chocolate cascading off the sides of the perfectly round cookie. Beautiful imperfection, I tell you. And I beg to differ on the graded C. I give taste an A with extra credit thanks to the little bits of chocolate that have fallen to the bottom of the package. Who can resist the gooey brownie-like chocolate blanketing the cookie in a fine balance of super-sweet and semi-sweet deliciousness?

P.S. 140 calories. That is all

MW: First of all, your little tableaux at the grocery store confirms what I’ve always secretly suspected: That the Berger Cookie has put some sort of communal spell on the residents of Baltimore. (Beam of light? Really?) As for your assessment of the “super-sweet and semi-sweet deliciousness,” well . . . I guess we can agree on the super sweet part. And you had to go there with the calories, huh? As though Berger Cookies are somehow . . . good for you? Not so fast, my little sweet-toothed fairy. You have forced me to reluctantly bring up the words that send a shudder down any Berger Cookie lover’s spine: Trans fat. Yup, those partially hydrogenated oils that are found in the Berger Cookie and which, according to WebMD, “turn your arteries to sludge” (who knew WebMD could be so poetic?). With the FDA proposed trans fat ban likely to go into effect, the Berger Cookie may be forced to change its recipe. (Come to think of it, that may not be such a bad thing.)

JP: Call it a communal spell. Fine. A spell to awaken thy senses to take in such
a fine delicacy. Spell or not, I eat my Berger Cookies with pride . . . trans fats and all. Yeah, yeah, so that trans fat stuff is bad. I get it. Berger Cookies have been made with the same basic recipe since the 1800s. Call me and my ancestors survivors. For the record, some pizzas contain hydrogenated oil. PIZZA. And French fries. And baked pies. And pudding. And pancakes. Not all variations mind you, but for the love of snack food! To quote Mark Twain: “Too much of anything is bad, but too much whiskey Berger Cookie is just enough.”

MW: It bears mentioning that, right here in Baltimore, we have Otterbein’s chocolate chip cookies, which I vastly prefer, for both their high quality chocolate morsels and the slight hint of saltiness in their cookie batter. To me, that’s a more sophisticated cookie flavor. Berger Cookies are more like an overactive 6-year-old’s idea of heaven, a blast of uncomplex sweetness that goes straight to your pleasure sensors.

JP: Otterbein’s? Well, I guess if you like the .027-inch sliver of cookie that bears a resemblance to pan scrapings. Or maybe you just like the excitement of the almost-maybe drawing of one whole cookie in its entirety. (Side note: I’m positive the Otterbein bags are first beaten with a club and then dragged behind the delivery truck on Thames Street.) At least the Berger is two inches of solid COOKIE and not the remnants of one. You’re absolutely right about the pleasure sensors. Finally we agree on something! Well, it’s official. Pavlov’s reflex is in full effect. I’m off to Harris Teeter to pick me up a box of Bergerliciousness. And Max, I will be sure to share.

Ever since the discovery of sugarcane in New Guinea in 6,000 B.C.,
our fixation with sugar has been both a complex source of woe (we’ve
been known to cry in the face of a perfect chocolate mousse) and
worship. (We bow to the altar of fudge.)

So why is it that even
long after we’ve eaten past the point of satiation, the taste of
sweet—be it from candy, cookies, or cake—holds sway? “There’s a
biological imperative of why we crave sugar and fat,” explains Diana
Sugiuchi, a registered dietitian and licensed nutritionist with the
Baltimore-based Nourish Family Nutrition. “They give us quick energy,
which, when we were evolving as a species, was a very good thing. Our
brains are biologically programmed to seek out sweets. Eating sweets
activates the same receptors in your brain that morphine and heroin do,
but it’s easier to get your hands on chocolate.”

Although we may
be inclined to seek out sweets, not everyone develops a sweet tooth. “We
can taste sweetness at an early age and detect sweetness, but that’s
not craving” says Benjamin Caballero of The Johns Hopkins Global Center
on Childhood Obesity. “Many studies show that whether you like sweets
depends on whether your parents consumed them.”

If you do indulge,
moderation, not deprivation, is the key, says Sugiuchi. “Some people
think you shouldn’t have any sugar at all, but I’m not the food police,”
she says. “I tell my clients to build a savings account of treats into
their week and budget for the times they are going to have sweets to
help them have a normal relationship with sugar. Treats shouldn’t be
nutritious—they should just be something you totally love.” Pass the
cake, please.

You decide which desserts make the cut in our March Madness-style sweets bracket. Our Sweets Issue is on newsstands now!

Congratulations to Icedgems Cupcakes!

Wit & Wisdom

Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore, 200 International Dr., 410-576-5800.

Acclaimed pastry chef Dyan Ng may have moved on, but the restaurant hasn’t
missed a beat with its sweet endings.

Editor’s pick: “The Baltimore Bar,” with caramel, chocolate mousse, peanut ganache, a brownie, peanuts, and Maldon sea salt.

Blue Hill Tavern

938 S. Conkling St., 443-388-9363.

The
Brewers Hill restaurant, in the glow of the Natty Boh sign, ends its
American continental meals with choices like a Key lime Napoleon, a
fudge-brownie sundae, and a yummy version of baklava (layered BHTlava).

Editor’s pick: Brioche bread pudding with caramel, sous-vide apples, and vanilla ice cream.

Petit Louis Bistro

4800 Roland Ave., 410-366-9393.

The
Roland Park bistro stays true to its French roots from start to finish
with offerings like pot de crème au chocolat and profiterole à la
pistache.

Editor’s pick: The foret noire, a classic Black Forest cake with almond crumble and cherry meringue.

Woodberry Kitchen

2010 Clipper Park Rd., No. 126, 410-464-8000.

Chef/co-owner
Spike Gjerde adheres to his locavore ethos whether he’s working with
free-range chickens, homegrown spuds, or farm-fresh milk. House-made
desserts include bourbon pecan pie with buttermilk sherbet, apple pie
with maple custard, and fresh cream ice cream.

Editor’s pick: The sour cherry and plum pie with brown butter buckwheat streusel, tarragon ice cream, and dulce de leche.

Bonaparte Breads

903 S. Ann St, 410-342-4000.

The
display case at the Fells Point cafe is stocked with delectable
pastries, from almond croissants and elephant ear-shaped palmiers
stuffed with raspberries to apricot-and-pear tarts.

Editor’s pick:
The Paris-Brest, named for a bicycle race between the two French
cities—a sandwich of éclair dough filled with hazelnut cream and dusted
with sugar and almonds.

Au Bon Pain

Several locations including 10 N. Calvert St., 410-727-9827.

Since
the chain launched in Boston in 1978, the bakery has brought French
pastries to airports, shopping malls, and even hospitals all over the
world. Selections include brownies, cookies, croissants, strudels, and
cheese Danish. The website (aubonpain.com) even includes caloric info, if you dare.

Editor’s pick: The chocolate crème torsade pastry: 230 calories. Woot.

Bonjour Bakery

6070 Falls Rd., 410-372-0238.

The
shelves are filled with croissants—plain, almond, and
chocolate—palmiers, brioches, muffins, and more. All are baked by Gerard
Billebault, a native of France, who opened the cute cafe with his wife,
Gayle Brier, 15 years ago. The shop is also known for its colorful
macaroons, which need to be special ordered.

Editor’s pick: Pain au raisin, glazed with sugar and studded with sweet raisins.

Daniela Pasta & Pastries

900 W. 36th St., 443-759-9320.

This
tiny storefront on The Avenue in Hampden may have some of the best
Italian delicacies in town. Sure, the savory edibles are delicious, but
the house-made dolci are worth a visit. The dilemma will be which one to
pick from the display case, from tiramisu and fruit tarts to cannoli
and strudels.

Editor’s pick: The bite-sized elephant ears sandwiching a lemon curd or chocolate-hazelnut-cream middle.

Pariser’s Bakery

6711 Reisterstown Rd., 410-764-1700.

This
Pikesville kosher bakery has at least 10 varieties of
hamantaschen—small triangular pastries with fillings like prune, poppy
seed, and chocolate. But the shop also has classic pastries like buttery
Danish packed with cherry, lemon, and blueberry, éclairs, and
Napoleans.

Editor’s pick: The chocolate “cigar,” which is covered in chocolate icing and powdered sugar.

Pastry Ingredients

Flour, Butter & Water

The same three ingredients are used to make some of the most-loved pastries in the world.

Croissant Controversy Fun Fact

Some
believe that Marie Antoinette introduced this buttery pastry to France
from her native Austria. Though its origins are in dispute, its
yumminess is not.

Aunt Erma’s

Pennsylvania Dutch Market, 11121 York Rd., Cockeysville, 410-316-1534.

The
pies, cakes, and cookies at this busy spot in a corner of the market
look and taste like they’re fresh from a home kitchen. There are whoopie
pies filled with peanut butter, mint, or chocolate-chip cream; classic
apple, shoofly, and chocolate-chiffon pies; rice-cereal treats;
pistachio cupcakes; and pumpkin cake rolls with cream-cheese frosting.

Editor’s pick: The chocolate-peanut-butter cookie with a peanut-butter cup embedded in the center.

Atwaters

Several locations including 429 E. Belvedere Ave., 410-323-2396.

The
bakery/cafe may be more known for its inventive soups and rustic breads
that are also crafted into assorted sandwiches, but plenty of sweet
stuff also comes out of its kitchens.

Editor’s pick:
The Pimlico cake—a Baltimore classic with yellow chiffon cake with
Bavarian cream between the layers and a chocolate-ganache frosting
dotted with walnuts.

Dangerously Delicious Pies

Several locations including 2839 O’Donnell St., 410-522-7437.

Owner
Rodney Henry has made a lucrative career out of rolling dough. His
concoctions—from the sweet chocolate-ganache chess pie to the savory
steak pie—have drawn attention for their tender, flaky crusts and fresh
ingredients.

Editor’s pick: The Elvis pie—peanut buttercream with Swiss chocolate topped with bacon.

Patisserie Poupon

Two locations including 820 E. Baltimore St., 410-332-0390.

Owner/baker
Joseph Poupon’s confections are known not only for their taste, but
also for their artistic presentations. For example, the Fraisier has a
marzipan finish decorated with a white-chocolate-dipped strawberry and
is cut to expose sliced strawberries within.

Editor’s pick: The Royale—a dense chocolate-mousse cake topped with chocolate petals cupping whole hazelnuts in the center.

Piedigrotta Bakery

1300 Bank St., 410-522-6900.

The
counters are piled high with all sorts of treats—cheesecake, pannetone,
and lush fruit pies. But proprietor/baker Carminantonio Iannaccone also
turns out one of the most delicious tiramisus in town, which makes
sense. He claims to have invented the treat laden with ladyfingers,
mascarpone, and Marsala wine in his native Italy.

Editor’s pick: Tiramisu, of course.

Makin’ Whoopie! Fun Fact

According
to food historians, Amish women baked whoopie pies and packed them in
farmers’ lunches. When the farmers would find the treats in their lunch
pails, they would shout “Whoopie!”

Local Legacy

Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Maine have all laid claim to the prestigious title of ‘Birthplace of the Whoopie Pie’

Icedgems

213 Main St., Reisterstown, 443-690-7056.

This
boutique bakery features 140 fanciful flavors dreamed up by owner
Christine Richardson and her staff. Offerings include Banoffee Toffee
(banana cake with caramelized banana buttercream) and Illegally
Delicious (raspberry and chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream and
pistachios). Richardson’s signature pink-and-white polka-dotted vans can
also be found around town.

Editor’s pick: Blueberry-pancake cupcake topped with maple buttercream and candied bacon.

Charm City Cupcakes

Several locations including 1340 Smith Ave., 410-244-8790.

Eight
years ago, owner Sandra Long opened this petite bakery in the former
guard house of the historic Mt. Washington Mill. Her formula for making
cupcakes that taste as good as they look is a winning one. With a
rotation of more than 65 flavors to choose from, even the quickest
decision makers may struggle here.

Editor’s pick: Vanilla praline—a crown of caramel and pecans perched on top of vanilla cake.

Fresh Bakery

10351 Reisterstown Rd., Owings Mills, 410-530-0098.

The
bakery sets itself apart from all the other cupcake places by making it
hip to be square—literally. Letta Simon and her husband, Michael,
figured out not only a cute concept, but also how to make divine
cupcakes. Named after dream destinations—Palm Beach Coconut, Aspen Mint
Chocolate Chip, and Charleston Chocolate—you haven’t done due dessert
diligence until you’ve squared off with one of these.

Editor’s pick: The Monday special: Cape Cod carrot cupcake.

La Cakerie

Two locations including 11 W. Allegheny Ave., Towson, 443-275-4050.

Thanks to his star turns on the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars and Sweet Genius,
La Cakerie owner/chef Jason Hisley has become our town’s king of
cupcakes. His Towson shop focuses on special-occasion cakes, cookies,
and even savory snacks, but the cupcakes take the cake here.

Editor’s pick: The harvest-apple cupcake with spiced buttercream and compote.

Midnite Confections Cupcakery

1051 S. Charles St., 410-727-1010.

The
focus here is on quality, not quantity, with seven daily flavors
utilizing interesting ingredients like Madagascar vanilla, white rum,
and organic carrots, plus a rotating schedule of three daily specials.
We’re sweet on the policy of icing all cupcakes after they’re ordered
and allowing customers to mix and match icings.

Editor’s pick: The Sublime-inal cupcake—lemon cake with lime buttercream frosting.

Vaccaro’s

Several locations including 222 Albemarle St., 410-685-4905.

While
the bakery’s luscious cannoli with sweet ricotta and milk-chocolate
morsels may be its top seller, it also offers an array of outstanding
cookies, including pignoli cookies with almond paste and pine nuts,
butter sandwich cookies with Nutella and coated with powdered sugar, and
a gluten-free croccantini (cocoa powder and almond bites).

Editor’s pick: Chocolate biscotti dipped in white chocolate.

Berger Cookies

Found at local stores.

While
the bakery plant in Cherry Hill has been passed along to different
families through the years, the recipe—a white-cake-like cookie with a
layer of chocolate fudge—remains the same, at least, for now. If the FDA
approves a ban on trans fat, the texture could change in the future. In
the meantime, our hometown favorite can be found in other concoctions
like Taharka Brothers’s Berger Cookie Ice Cream.

Eddie’s of Roland Park

Two locations including 5113 Roland Ave., 410-323-3656.

Eddie’s,
run by the Cohen family, has long been a go-to grocery for neighborhood
types who don’t feel like cooking—or baking. The dessert case is filled
with cookies in all shapes and sizes, from walnut-filled Russian tea
cookies and hazelnut shortbreads to coconut macaroons.

Editor’s pick: Sugar cookies in seasonal shapes that taste homemade. Try the pink hearts for Valentine’s Day.

Gourmet Again

3713 Old Court Rd., Pikesville, 410-484-9393.

The
grocery aggregates cookies from all over the region—from Brooklyn, NY,
home of Erica’s Rugelach; Gourmet Bakery in Baltimore, which supplies
the icebox cookies; and Goldman’s Kosher Bakery in Reisterstown, maker
of strawberry fingers dipped in chocolate.

Editor’s pick: Chocolate moon cookies.

Otterbein’s Cookies

Found at local stores.

In
1881, Adam Otterbein, newly arrived from Germany, opened a small bakery
in Locust Point. Today, production takes place in Windsor Mill and is
run by Adam’s great-grandkids. The wafer-thin cookies, packed in the
familiar red windowpane paper bag, come in five flavors: sugar, lemon,
ginger, oatmeal raisin, and the best-selling chocolate chip.

Editor’s pick: Lemon, a great tea cookie.

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.

Glarus Chocolatier

2046 York Rd., Timonium, 410-252-6601.

Behold
the red-and-white flag and the exquisite displays of handmade truffles,
dark rochers, and walnut giandujas, and you might swear you’re in
Switzerland. You’re not, but you are in a Swiss chocolate shop. Owner
Ben Hauser was weaned on the art form by his Swiss-born chocolatier dad,
Ruedi (who has his own chocolate shop in Rhode Island).

Editor’s pick: Coffee truffles—dark chocolate, cream, and coffee ganache sprinkled with crushed espresso beans.

Cacao Lorenzo

1818 Pot Spring Rd., Timonium, 410-453-9334.

Years
ago, while traveling abroad for his job in medical sales, Larry
McGlinchey discovered fine French chocolates. Back on home soil, he made
a career change and opened a French salon-style chocolate shop.

Editor’s pick: The white bars—a winning trifecta of cocoa butter, vanilla, and sugar.

Kirchmayr Chocolatier

9630 Deereco Rd., Timonium, 410-561-7705.

Long
before chocolate stores made their mark in the ‘burbs, A. Kirchmayr
Chocolatier set the standard for European chocolate shops. Twenty-six
years later, owner Albert Kirchmayr continues to practice the art of
German chocolate-making.

Editor’s pick: Chocolate-covered hazelnuts.

The Velvet Chocolatier

10403 Stevenson Rd., Stevenson, 410-365-9883.

These
elegant chocolates get a lot of buzz. Just ask Oprah Winfrey, who gave
them a shout out in her magazine O, or Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who
discovered them while filming Veep in Baltimore.

Editor’s pick: The caramel cups with dark chocolate and sea salt.

Wockenfuss Candies

Several locations including 6831 Harford Rd., 410-483-4414.

Open
since 1915, Wockenfuss harks back to simpler times when
chocolate-covered marshmallows and coconut crèmes were a food-pyramid
staple. Now, a fourth generation of family is involved.

Editor’s pick: Classic almond bark—whole roasted almonds buried beneath slabs of dense dark chocolate.

Rich History Fun Fact

The
name chocolate comes from the Aztec word “xocalati,” which means bitter
water. The truffle was named after the black truffle fungus because of
the way it looked.

The Charmery

801 W. 36th St, 410-814-0493.

“I
think of things I like and turn them into ice cream,” says co-owner
David Alima, referring to the store’s variety of flavors. Look for
winter concoctions like Champagne and strawberry for Valentine’s Day and
snowmaggedon with snowcap candies—whether or not the weather warrants
it.

Editor’s pick: Spro coffee, made in collaboration with the Hampden coffee shop down the street.

Maggie Moo’s

Several locations including 821 S. Broadway, 410-342-8399.

It’s
hard to resist endlessly combining the shop’s 56 flavors (like banana
rum and chocolate Swiss) and 31 mix-ins (including chocolate-covered
pretzels and coconut). Other whimsical cold desserts include
ice-cream-filled cupcakes and an ice-cream pizza.

Editor’s pick: Strawberry Skateboard—strawberry ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and gummy bears.

Pitango Gelato

Several locations including 802 S. Broadway, 410-236-0741.

When
Noah Dan moved to the U.S., he missed the gelato of his youth in Italy.
He eventually sold his software company and satisfied his longing by
opening Pitango in 2006. The creamy, milk-based treat is made on an
organic dairy farm in Pennsylvania, each kind built from scratch without
chemicals or flavor concentrates.

Editor’s pick: The sweet-and-savory black sesame.

Prigel Family Creamery

4852 Long Green Rd., Glen Arm, 410- 510-7488.

The
on-site shop, adjacent to the creamery operations and the family’s
dairy farm, sells ice cream as well as milk, meat, and yogurt. The
slow-churned ice cream includes flavors like Bobby’s black mud
(chocolate with cappuccino chips) and apple strudel. Order it scooped
into a cone, in a sundae with syrup, or packed into a container to take
home.

Editor’s pick: Caramel pretzel.

Taharka Bros

Available at local stores and restaurants.

Taharka’s
small factory in Clipper Mill cranks out inventive flavors like “A
Dream Preferred” (toasted-coconut ice cream with rum swirl and chocolate
Pop Rocks), named after a Langston Hughes poem, and “Pryor Knowledge”
with Nutella, nutmeg, nuts, and Nutter Butter cookies. Look for an
ice-cream truck in the spring.

Editor’s pick: Vanilla, made with ingredients grown on a small farm in Haiti.

Calories in the Cone

Sugar Cone: 40 calories in a single cone

Cake Cone: 17 calories in a single cone

Fractured Prune

Several locations including 8705 Harford Rd., Parkville, 410-661-9999.

This
offspring of the original Ocean City hotspot stays true to the mother
ship with a purple-and-green color scheme and doughnuts baked to order. A
tray on the counter tempts you with colorful offerings, including Oreo
cookie, Almond Joy, s’mores, and thin mint. It takes only minutes for
the fragrant, hot doughnuts to be placed in your hands.

Editor’s pick: “O.C. Sand,” a honey-glazed round coated with cinnamon sugar.

Donut Shack

497 Ritchie Hwy., Severna Park, 410-544-0278.

The
scent alone——wafting with honey and cinnamon——will hook you when you
walk into the store. Brightly lit shelves are laden with all manner of
doughnuts——about 20 varieties in all. The bakery, family-owned for
almost 30 years, has an added bonus: It’s open 24/7 to satisfy your
cravings any time of day. But bring cash. No plastic accepted.

Editor’s pick: The honey-dipped doughnut.

The Fenwick Bakery

7219 Harford Rd., Parkville, 410-444-6410.

At
100 years, the bakery is wearing its age quite well, thank you,
continuing to churn out pastry cases full of confections for the next
generation of visitors. Customers will find pies, birthday and wedding
cakes, cookies, breads, and doughnuts among the offerings in the
storefront staffed by motherly clerks.

Editor’s pick: The chocolate-glazed cinnamon buns.

Herman’s Bakery

7560 Holabird Ave., Dundalk, 410-284-5590.

You
know you can trust a family-owned bakery that has been around since
1923 and at its current location since 1958. The cases are filled with
cookies, strawberry shortcakes, éclairs, and doughnuts, including a
marshmallow-filled one that almost requires a spoon.

Editor’s pick: The plump, sugar-dusted jelly-filled doughnut.

Hoehn’s Bakery

400 S. Conkling St., 410-675-2884.

The
beloved bake shop in the heart of Highlandtown has been making
customers smile since 1927 with its made-from-scratch products. Inside
the corner store, the air is perfumed with yeast and sugar as friendly
neighbors stop in for their regular treats. And there are goodies
galore, from cookies and doughnuts to smearcase (Baltimore’s own type of
cheesecake).

Editor’s pick: The airy marshmallow-laden doughnut.

Annabel Lee Tavern

601 S. Clinton St., 410-522-2929.

There
is something about this Edgar Allan Poe-inspired tavern that makes us
want to curl up next to the fire and sip a decadent cocktail—and they
have plenty to choose from.

Editor’s choice: The Isadore with High Grounds coffee, Fireball whiskey, Baileys Irish Cream, vanilla extract, and a whipped-cream topper.

B&O American Brasserie

2 N. Charles St., 410-692-6172.

This
hotel bar has been producing creatively crafted mixed drinks for
several years now, and its current menu—with sparkling punch bowls and
barrel-aged cocktails—is no exception.

Editor’s choice: The B&O Manhattan with Angels Envy bourbon, Port, angostura bitters, and (the kicker) maple syrup for a bit of sweetness.

Heavy Seas Alehouse

1300 Bank St, 410-522-0850.

This
Little Italy brewpub uses Heavy Seas beer in its cocktails in creative
ways, from Peg Leg liqueur in its Manhattan to Gold Ale in its shandy.

Editor’s choice: Root-beer float with two scoops of vanilla or chocolate ice cream in a pint glass and covered with Peg Leg Imperial Stout.

RYE

807 S. Broadway, 443-438-3296.

The cocktail bar features plenty of after-dinner cocktails, like the creamy Toro Blanco and rich Black & Tan.

Editor’s choice:
Though it’s off-menu, we recommend ordering the Little King (which is
served as a shot) with Crown Royal, cold-brewed coffee, and maple syrup.

The Abbey Burger Bistro

1041 Marshall St., 443-453-9698.

Besides
the build-your-own burgers, what impresses us most about Abbey Burger
is the list of spiked milkshakes—with flavors like Berger Cookies and
PB&J.

Editor’s choice: The Incredible Hulk with pistachio ice cream, Grand Marnier, and brownie chunks.

Liqueurs & Alcohol

Baileys Irish Cream: 17% alcohol

Grand Marnier: 40% alcohol

23: Percentage more alcohol by volume in Grand Marnier versus Baileys Irish Cream.

As if being an attorney, baker, and Food Network personality aren’t enough, the ever-resourceful Warren Brown is adding a new job title to his resume—published author— when his cookbook, CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch, hits the stores this month. “I liked the idea of sharing what I learned,” says Brown, 37, who recently opened a CakeLove in Canton (2500 Boston Street, 410-522-1825). “I thought it was an interesting, fun step in the process of being a bakery owner.” Brown, who now has four bakeries, one cafe, and more on the way, says he hopes the 225-page book with 85 recipes will help home bakers through some of the trials and errors he experienced when he was teaching himself to bake. His favorite cake is New German chocolate (or NGC as he calls it). “I have a bond with NGC,” says Brown, with a laugh. “As much as I can, I stuff it into my face.”