Who says Halloween is just for kids? While they’re loading up on Kit Kats and Pop Rocks, we grownups can treat our sweet tooth to the goodies on offer at these pastry shops.
Almadina Bakery & Sweets
1019 Method Road, Raleigh
919-755-6220
Inside this deceptively modest-looking building attached to a Middle Eastern market, you’ll find a selection of exotic pastries fit for a sultan’s feast, among them cashew birds’ nests, sesame cookies, basbousa (semolina cakes sweetened with rosewater syrup), and five kinds of baklava.
The Cupcake Bar
101 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham
919-816-2905
Follow them on Twitter (@thecupcakebar) for a daily changing list of temptations that includes cocktail-inspired flavors such as Mojito and Grasshopper, as well as perennial favorites Red Velvet and Mocha Latte. Keep your eye peeled for seasonal specialties such as Pumpkin Spice and Mexican Chocolate.
The Cupcake Shoppe
104 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh
919-821-4223
www.thecupcakeshopperaleigh.com
Quit ogling the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in your kid’s trick-or-treat bag. Instead, just pop down to this little shop on Glenwood South, where Peanut Butter Cup is one of more than a dozen lavishly frosted cupcake options ranging from Lemon Zinger (with a dollop of lemon curd in the middle) to Cookie Monster (vanilla cake with Oreo buttercream).
Daisy Cakes
401-A Foster St., Durham
919-389-4307
After winning a devoted following by selling their gourmet pastries out of a vintage Airstream trailer, pastry chef Tanya Catolos and her chef-husband Kurt put down brick-and-mortar roots last year. Now the larger selection makes choosing among options ranging from French macaron to candied bacon and maple cupcake harder than ever.
Favor Desserts
5607-105 N.C. 55, Durham
919-908-9264
From cream cheese-frosted carrot cake cupcake (regular or petite) to German chocolate layer cake to 7-Up pound cake (just one of the eight variations on a pound cake theme here), if it has “cake” in the name, odds are you’ll find it at this RTP newcomer.
Sugarland
Two locations: 140 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill; 2031 Cameron St., Raleigh
919-929-2100 (Chapel Hill); 919-835-2100 (Raleigh)
Want to treat your inner child and your grownup self at the same time? How about a slice of chocolate caramel fleur de sel cake, washed down with a frozen pink pomegranate martini? Sugarland bills itself as “North Carolina’s only bakery with a full bar,” a combination that has proven to be such a winner at the original Chapel Hill location that a second shop opened in the spring in Cameron Village.
