By Jan Norris
Delray residents must be suffering from a serious sweet tooth — the number of shops that slake a sugar craving are mushrooming in downtown.
From sexy, fashion-themed cupcakes to delicate French macarons, towering Tiffany box cakes, giant gummy worms, and big, fat cookies, it’s all here.
Berry Wang, Jean Paul Peanutier and Red Valentino cupcakes from Cupcake Couture.
Cupcake Couture
Those fashion cupcakes make a statement at Cupcake Couture, where Pam Joyner and her team turn out decadent cupcakes with punny names tied to the fashion industry. Bestseller? Red Valentino — a variation on the traditional red velvet with cream cheese-buttercream icing. Dolce & Banana, Cocoa Chanel, Donatella Vanilla and Caramel Lagerfeld are on the racks; Limey Pulitzer pays tribute to the tropical fruit and Palm Beach’s own fashion maven.
They are presented in two sizes — Petite and Vogue, with a box of four petites of mixed flavors the crowd pleaser, according to Michelle Howell, a manager and Joyner’s daughter. Whoopie pie lovers will find those hand-sized cakes here, and gluten-free, sugar-free and vegan versions of the cupcakes are available.
Couture Cakes
Couture Cakes takes fashion to the bakery where Esmerelda Pinilla whips out stunners for special occasions. The Colombian baker has been in Delray Beach for nearly a decade, baking from her home, but for the last three years, she’s baked from her shop on Southeast Sixth Avenue.
“My signature cake is a cream cheese cake — not a cheesecake,” she said. Her cakes are custom designed and for whatever occasion — birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, showers and favorite team parties.
The trend in cakes today? Big ruffles around the cake, or huge fondant bows atop them — she calls it the “wow” bow.
Rose Crème & Basil and White Chocolate macarons from Le Macaron.
Le Macaron
It’s all pastels at Le Macaron. Hervé Rouge, owner of Le Macaron, isn’t shy about eating his shop’s specialty. “I like the basil and white chocolate,” he says.
The macarons, wafer-sized delicate meringue cookies that sandwich a rich filling, are France’s hottest sweet bite. The rainbow colors of macarons arrayed on trays in the shop may cause the most devout dieter to break down.
The cookies, all gluten-free, are delivered fresh every week from the store’s partner shop in Sarasota.
Flavors like Crème de Rose, and lavender from Provence, and salted caramel are popular, especially with brides and at baby showers, Rouge said. He is partial to the herb flavors, he said, though chocolate with ganache still wins over Americans.
Along with the macarons, gelato imported from France also is sold here.
It’Sugar offers candies and novelties ranging from old-fashioned wax bottles to gummy bears and Candy Crush confections. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
It’Sugar
At It’Sugar, a chain candy and novelty store spreading throughout South Florida, it’s a saccharine wonderland for kids of all ages.
Store manager Mike McNary says, “There’s something for everyone, from 2-year-olds to 70-year-olds. We have old-fashioned candy they remember, like wax bottles, and we have gummy bears and Candy Crush candy for the kids.”
Along with nostalgic candies like Fruit-Striped gum, oversize candy is a trademark of the chain, and McNary’s store carries a 3-foot-long gummy worm as well as a 5-pound gummy bear. The scarier 27-pound, 8-foot gummy python can be ordered online.
Giant Hershey bars, and Shrek-sized boxes of Jolly Ranchers and Good & Plenty also have their fans.
But another audience has found the R- and X-rated candies stocked in an area higher than toddlers’ views. Phallic-shaped lollipops and things like the gummy bra have drawn an adult crowd.
“We sell a lot of those,” McNary said. They’re popular for party favors at bridal showers or as a gag gift.”
Shea’s Bakery
Pop culture figures in to the cakes at Shea’s Bakery as well, said manager Kate Townsend. She’s managing the bakery started by high school whiz kid Shea Gouldd, who is away at college in Missouri. Gouldd made news by winning business entrepreneurship awards while still studying for her SAT’s.
Townsend carries on for Gouldd while she’s away, baking cakes to order. “Because we’re so close to Orlando, we get a lot of Disney theme cakes,” she said. “We’ve done a lot of Frozen cakes from the movie in the last month.”
Fancy wedding cakes with themes and other special occasion cakes are made to order from customer designs, or their own.
Bestseller is the replica of a Tiffany box, completely edible. “It’s the blue box with a big white bow.”
Two Fat Cookies
New in town is Two Fat Cookies in Pineapple Grove. Debbie Wexler moved her commercial bakery from Boca Raton in February, and offers a wide variety of cookies and bars, cake pops, cupcakes, specialty cakes and pies in a storefront.
“Originally I was only going to do cookies, but the product line keeps expanding,” she said. “People just kept asking for all different things. We do whatever our customers request.”
This is her first retail shop with displays, a nod to customers who wanted to shop for ready-made treats and see the staff at work. It proves vexing for some, she said. “They get to the counter and there are so many choices, they can’t decide.”
But, she said, the local shoppers come in for the signature item. “The Delray people really go for the jumbo cookies — all flavors.”
Sweet spots
Where to find sweet treats mentioned, as well as others in downtown Delray Beach:
Candy:
It’Sugar, 250 E. Atlantic Ave.; 278-6772; www.Itsugar.com
Baked goods:
Cupcake Couture, 328 E. Atlantic Ave.; 276-2334; www.cupcakecoutureusa.com
Couture Cakes, 142 SE Sixth Ave.; 279-1828; www.couturecakeshop.com
Le Macaron, 520 E. Atlantic Ave.; 266-3860; www.facebook.com/LeMacaron.DelrayBeach
Shea’s Bakery, 255 NE Sixth Ave.; 275-9591; www.sheasbakery.com
Two Fat Cookies, 245 NE Second Ave.; 265-5350; www.twofatcookies.com
Frozen treats:
Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, 418 E. Atlantic Ave.; www.894-8230
Sloan’s Ice Cream, 111 E. Atlantic Ave.; 303 3912; www.sloansicecream.com
Mootz Homemade Italian Ice, 504 E. Atlantic Ave.; 330-8280; www.mootzitalianice.com
Nonna’s Café-Gelato, 1136 E. Atlantic Ave.; 279-9328
My Yogurt Café, 524 E. Atlantic Ave.; 278-1810; www.myyogurtcafe.com
Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop, 1155 E. Atlantic Ave.; 272-3112; www.facebook.com/BenJerrysDelrayBeach
FY&I Frozen Yogurt, Nine NE Second Ave.; 450-4702; www.fyidelray.com
Kilwins, 402 E. Atlantic Ave.; 278-0808; www.kilwins.com/delraybeach
Doc’s All American, 10 N. Swinton Ave.; 278-3627
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