Portland sweets

Portland is a city full of world class dining options. But its reputation is built on the backs of the artists that produce sweets in the Rose City as much as it on their savory counterparts.

Donuts may be the sweet that gets Portland the most attention. Almost everybody has heard of Voodoo Doughnut, the quirky shop that whips up breakfast pastries adorned with a Willy Wonka avalanche of candy and breakfast cereal. If you haven't, Google Kenneth "Cat Daddy" Pogson and Tres Shannon's shop - just about everybody has been there.

The house donut is the Voodoo Doughnut, a vegan anthropomorphic jelly-filled pastry complete with a pretzel pin to jab into its heart. About one third of the donuts are vegan, and they are marked on the shelves and on the menu boards.

A pink box of donuts is a great conversation starter. The $110 coffin full of donuts is even better.

Those who find Voodoo Doughnut too whimsical might find Blue Star Donuts more up their alley. Blue Star is haute where Voodoo is hilarious.

These donuts, which also have received a great deal of media coverage, are made for grown ups, with bourbon and Cointreau as two of the boozier ingredients. Blue Star features coffee from local stalwart Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

The can't-miss choice is the blueberry bourbon basil glazed donut. It is sweet, smoky and mildly herbaceous in the most addictive way possible.

If you are more in the mood for frozen dessert, Salt and Straw is worth a stop. There are multiple locations of the shop throughout the city.

Columbus residents are familiar with adventurous ice cream flavors from local star Jeni's. Salt and Straw takes the modern approach into the next gear with choices including bone marrow, green fennel with maple and pear with blue cheese.

The off kilter combos work. The honey balsamic strawberry with cracked pepper sounds like a salad, but tastes like a revelation. The sweetness of the fruit is brightened by the acidity of the vinegar, and the pepper adds a subtle spice that fades delicately on the finish.

Some of the flavors might be too bizarre for a full scoop. But samples allow you the chance to try any ice cream, no matter what crazy ingredients are used. You might even like it.

I only visited Portland for a short time. There were more great looking places to satisfy a sweet tooth than there were hours in the day.

Some other spots for sweets: Quin Candy Company. fancy candy with local ingredients. It looks good for all ages.

Cacao was a cool looking spot with artisan hot chocolate. Chocolates come from local producers and are sourced from international markets. It must draw people like a magnet when the temperature drops.

There were more fantastic bakeries than I could possible name. Highlights included Sweedeedee, St. Honore, The Sugar Cube and Roman Candle.

Sin City sweets

Las Vegas is a place that profits from the sale of pleasure. It is like a 21+-version of Disney World, hawking sex, gambling, drinking, gluttony and other excessively hedonistic behaviors that would get you kicked out of your local religious youth group.

The food in Las Vegas is designed to blow your mind - or at least make you forget that you lost a bunch of money at the tables. After a hedonistic afternoon and a good meal, epicureans might also take pleasure in dessert. Sin City is full of great desserts that fit right in with the background of over-consumption.

Sweets Raku is hidden in a Chinatown strip mall. The only signage is a giant silver spoon on the outside wall. It makes dessert for Raku, the izakaya recommended by every chef, host and random celebrity that visits Las Vegas.

Chef Mitsuo Endo's restaurant offers single desserts and small three course dessert tasting menus. It seats eight to ten people, and the theater that is the composition of each dish is a sight to behold.

Even the menu is edible. After ordering, the sugar-string wrapped menu could be dipped in raspberry sauce and eaten.

The Mt. Fuji roasted chestnut creamcake with chestnut 'grass' and chestnut wafers is nearly too beautiful to eat. The strands of chestnut grass, fed through a pastry tube with multiple holes so that it coats the base like pasta noodles, carry a beautiful roasted essence that lingers on the palate. 

Haute pastry can be found all over the Strip. Last time I was in town, I stopped at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery in the Venetian. It is great for breakfast baked goods - or sweets any other time of the day.

If you are aiming for big names in pastry, there are few names as famous as Francois Payard. His career in New York City involved stints at Le Bernardin and Restaurant Daniel. His patisserie in Caesar's Palace makes macarons to die for, and the brunch seems to be merely a precursor for an inevitably sweet conclusion.

Jean-Philippe Maury, the pastry chef of the Bellagio, has a patisserie in both Bellagio and Aria. There is a chocolate river in the Bellagio location. 

The playful takes on Snickers was a chocolate mousse with a rich nougat ribbon topped with pink sea salt flecked roasted peanuts. It was rich with a layered flavor.

There are plenty of options available for reasonable prices as well. The hot Vegas sun makes Luv-It Frozen Custard a useful destination to find to cool off. Located just off Las Vegas Boulevard Downtown, the custard shop has four flavors a day. Two are the normal chocolate and vanilla, and the other two rotate daily.

The Western sundae is the signature order. It is topped with hot fudge, caramel, pecans and a cherry. The custard is a slightly richer base to deliver these classic ingredients. A $5.75 sundae is huge - it's easy to share.

Ronald's Donuts in Chinatown is a great spot for vegans. Half of the donuts are vegan. The staff pointed out that the top shelf was vegan while the bottom shelf was not. Despite the vegan wrinkle, the shop is full of old timers and kids wasting time, as well as a few police - the hallmarks of a good donut shop in any place in America, vegan or not.

The apple fritter was sweet, soft and studded with cinnamon and sugar. The vegan cream donuts were rich enough that it seems impossible they were made without eggs. The options at Ronald's are pretty middle of the road in terms of adventurousness, but it does score points with the low-key vegan options.

Also on the list of had-to-do-it-because-I-heard-about-it: the cupcake ATM outside Sprinkles Cupcakes at the Linq. The cupcake didn't particularly stand out, but there is a great novelty to watching a camera arm grab a cupcake that you paid for on your credit card, delivered from an opening like a sugar shot. It is ironic to spend  money at an ATM, but I guess you can think of it as a tasty banking fee.

Las Paletas Gourmet Popsicles

Las Paletas has to be Nashville's most heralded stop for dessert. Retailers all around the city sell the delightful Mexican style popsicles.

The main storefront is in the 12 South neighborhood. Flavors are grouped into fruity, creamy and none-of-the-above categories. Popsicles can also be dipped in local Olive and Sinclair chocolate.

Fruit flavors included strawberry kiwi, lime and cantaloupe. Creamy flavors were chocolate chili, pineapple coconut and banana chocolate chip.

The chocolate chili has a deep, spicy taste. The avocado, when dipped in chocolate, has a perfect richness.

Chocolaterie Stam

Chocolaterie Stam is the new sweet stop in Uptown Westerville. It is one of three domestic locations for the Dutch chocolatier.

In addition to truffles and assorted candies, Stam also makes gelato. Flavors included chocolate, chocolate hazelnut, blackberry, raspberry, eggnog and peppermint. Flavors rotate with the season. Candies, syrups and fruit are hand stirred into the dense dessert.

The chocolate hazelnut gelato, called Donatella, was delightful. It was tan rather than the customary brown color of most chocolate ice cream. Ribbons of hazelnut add a rich layers of flavor to an Italian classic.

The milk chocolate at Stam is sweet and creamy. The dark chocolate has subtle roasted bitterness that marries nicely with nuts.

Stam also makes sugar free chocolate bars and candies, including toffee.

Although there is already a Graeter's in Uptown Westerville and Schneider's, the 24-hour donut shop, Chocolaterie Stam's candies gives greater variety for Westerville residents with a sweet tooth.

SnickerDoodles Bakery/Cookies by Design

Even though the heyday of cupcakes has long since passed, it's always nice to find a talented producer like Snickerdoodles Bakery that can still elevate this childhood favorite with the skill of a craftsman. There is an adjacent cookie shop called Cookies by Design that operates out of the same kitchen. Between the two shops, something can be found to sate your sweet tooth.

The baker was passionate about her wares, and she explained that the cupcakes were vegetarian but not vegan appropriate. Many ingredients were locally sourced, including non-homogenized milk from a farm about 35 minutes from Mobile.

The Mississippi mud cupcakes were a brownie-like cake base flecked with Cookies by Design Oreos and crushed pecans. It was drizzled with caramel and chocolate syrup, and rich cocoa flavor exploded in each bite.

The turtle cupcake had salty pieces of crushed pretzel as a foundation. Caramel and nuts make the flavor sing.

The red velevet cupcakes with a liquid chocolate center add another layer of texture to a Southern bakery standard. The cake was moist, and the icing adds fat vanilla notes to what is a deceptive chocolate bomb.

The Elvis cupcake is banana cake topped in peanut butter icing. The King's favorite sandwich stands well as a baked good.

Overall, the appearance of the cupcakes is artful but lacking the sophistication of some of more talented icing pipers at other bakeries. This slight defect notwithstanding, everything I sampled tasted great.

Snickerdoodle

Yosick's Artisan Chocolates

Yosick's Artisan Chocolates is hidden in the brick streets and alleyways of German Village. In addition to delicious candies, cookies and pastries, Yosick's features a limited menu of vegetarian-friendly kosher food.

The bread and butter of Yosick's is candy. They make old favorites like the delightfully creamy buckeyes and almond bark, as well as more adventurous offerings like the Chinese five spice truffle, which is a bitter dark chocolate truffle with hints of clove, curry and cinnamon.

Yosick's also makes delicious looking cookies and cakes. The items that surprised me most, however, were the pizzas and salads and Mediterranean platter. You expect delicious kosher chocolate from an artisan chocolate maker. You don't expect delicious kosher lunch items to fill you up before you indulge in dessert.

But Yosick's pizza definitely hits the mark. It is a soft, floppy crust cut into four. The sauce is rich. The cheese is yellow and liberally applied. For $10, you get to pick any of three all vegetable toppings (the added benefit for lacto vegetarians eating kosher is that whenever you order food with cheese, kosher laws hold the meat for you automatically). There are many different toppings. I went for spinach, green olives and mushrooms, and it was delicious.

Yosick's also makes coffee and has a few other assorted beverage choices. Proprietor Kristy Yosick often works the counter in addition to making the candies.

There are tons of options for sweets in the German Village area, from Pistacia Vera to Bakery Gingham to Johnson's Ice Cream at Brown Bag. Yosick's is different enough from the others and delicious enough to make it work.

Yosick's

Sucre

On top of all of the rich food and booze and general debauchery that characterizes the New Orleans experience, the trip just wouldn't be complete without dessert. New Orleans just wouldn't be New Orleans without beignets, pralines and Bananas Foster.

Now keep in mind that I am in no way criticizing the merits of New Orleans' signature desserts. However, if you take a trip down the Mississippi River, Sucre will give you a clue as to how many other ways sweets can be amazing beyond the realm of the traditional.

Sucre is captained by Chef Tariq Hanna. Hanna applies his passion for pastry arts to create a abundance of savory sweets to satisfy a sweet tooth of any shape and size. He'll throw in a few hints of pralines and bananas to please the purists, all the while combining new elements that make you think deeper about dessert.

The storefront is located on the busy Magazine Street thoroughfare. Sucre makes ice creams, gelatos, pastries, candies, cookies and cakes. The artistry of the fare is breathtaking.

I enjoyed the sugar-free raspberry sorbet. It was a deeply sweet expression of pure fruit. Another Columbus resident reviewed the (non-vegetarian) macaroons. She enjoyed them, but gave a slight nod to local favorite Pistacia Vera.

I'm hardly the first to notice Sucre. It seems that everybody adores the macaroons. See O Magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and even Maxim extolling the virtues of the sweets at Sucre for proof. I particularly like Hanna's quote in Southern Breeze Magazine: "Everything in moderation, as long as you moderate frequently." Check me off in the box as another adoring fan.

Sucre

Bakery Gingham

I have heard nothing but praise for German Village's Bakery Gingham, a bakery specializing in all things delicious and sweet. I was tempted a number of times when Bakery Gingham was located adjacent to Brown Bag deli, but I never could pull the trigger.

Also, my endocrinologists have always discouraged me from eating sweets because I'm diabetic. I split the difference by getting a few cupcakes as a welcome home present for mom (where, of course, I will defy the logic of endocrinology by taking at least a bite).

The building is stylishly designed. The door handle is an angled clothes hanger because of the fabric nomenclature. The interior is brightly colored (like the desserts) with shades of pink offset by greens and blues and browns. There is limited seating for on-site enjoyment of the pastries.

The range of flavors and the artistry of the cupcakes are profound. There are Key lime cupcakes, vanilla, almond and violet cupcakes, chocolate mocha cupcakes, chocolate, banana and peanut butter cupcakes, pumpkin pie cupcakes and Buckeye candy cupcakes with chocolate/peanut butter balls baked into a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter icing and scarlet and gray M&M's on top. These are just a few of the delicious choices.

There are a number of other baked goods at Bakery Gingham. There are cookies and other creations that would taste great with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk. The cupcakes can also be ordered as a full-size cake option.

Bakery Gingham is a cool little outpost that caters to gourmands looking for a little bit extra to sate their sweet tooth. The new location and the baker's artistry should spark enough interest to keep the business booming.

Bakery Gingham

Pistacia Vera

I might have walked past Pistacia Vera 500 times while tooling around German Village without venturing inside. Maybe I was walking back to my car after eating at Katzinger's. Maybe I was hanging out with a friend. Maybe I was at the Book Loft. But I never got past the front door. Until yesterday.

Pistacia Vera bills itself as a dessert boutique. They specialize in the kind of desserts that embody the idea that less is more. By refining techniques and flavors, Pistacia Vera can offer adventurous creations that elevate a simple cookie to the level of a masterpiece.

The interior is arranged like a coffee shop. There is a small counter with all the desserts arranged behind it. There are also a few tables for those who want to sample some of the wares before they lug them home.

The macaroons are delightful. Rather than being a classic coconut (or almond) cookie, these macaroons come in flavors like raspberry rosewater, chocolate Earl Gray tea and caramel cream. They are light, airy and packed with intense, sweet fillings that have to be tasted to be believed.

There are also great cookies in larger sizes. I sampled the pistachio chocolate chip cookies. They were made with coarsely ground pistachios and giant soft chocolate chips.

Some of the other fine looking fare included guava glaces, sweet wine tea cookies, pistacio tupelo honey nougat, honey lemon madeleines and orange date rugelach.

Don't just walk past this place. It's well worth your time. Check out the pictures below if you don't believe me. I'll be grazing on macaroons cursing myself for not stopping in when I walked by on previous occasions.

Pistacia Vera

Cheryl & Co.

Tucked between ball bearing factories and the Westerville Post Office is Cheryl & Company, a cookie outlet that seeks to overpower your New Year's resolution to eat better and to lose weight. Don't worry...your weight gain will taste quite savory as you throw your best intentions right out the window.

As a diabetic, I might be the wrong person to review a cookie shop. Luckily for me, Cheryl was kind enough to whip up some sugar free cookies that are light years better than the crap you can buy at your local grocery store (I'm partial to the chocolate chip cookie...but there are usually at least three different options available).

The main business of Cheryl & Co. is on the internet. This holiday season, however, they experimented with a retail wing of their manufacturing facility in the Westerville industrial park. The holiday experiment was so successful that they decided to keep it open year round.

There are many other retail locations open throughout the area. There are a number of sales on the holiday cookies, which are still fresh but are priced to move. They also make a ton of Buckeye-themed cookies, which most fans are now trying to move to the deepest part of their subconscious after the third straight National Championship defeat at the hand of the SEC (football-basketball-football).

The frosted cookies are fantastic (don't tell my endocrinologist). If buying cookies directly from the source isn't fresh enough, you can also buy dough and bake the cookies at home. Check out the pictures, and I'll add additional ones as I eat them. So much for MY New Year's resolution!

Cheryl & Co