East Metro
A Piece of Cake
485 Selby Ave., St. Paul, 651-846-0016
Pretty, pretty sweets for a princess who craves a Barbie cake for her fifth, fifteenth, or fiftieth birthday. But this place makes more than birthday cakes: pumpkin-shaped minicakes for Halloween, adorable melt-away cookies in pastel icing hats, black-and-white cookies (half-white, half-chocolate iced monsters dear to New Yorkers), darling sandwich cookies shaped like slices of fruit. Delicious confections, edible fantasies.
Bread & Chocolate
867 Grand Ave., St. Paul, 651-228-1017
Cafe Latté
850 Grand Ave., St. Paul. 651-224-5687
Give credit (or blame) to Cafe Latté (and its older sister shop, Bread & Chocolate) for putting turtle cake on our culinary map. The franchise is known for glistening Italian fruit tarts, lemon tortes, as well as organic breads—sourdough, rye, ten-grain, and whole-wheat—plus muffins and scones. The breads and scones are so varied, a calendar of specials is posted online—they sell out quickly, so call ahead.
Jerabek’s New Bohemian Coffee House & Bakery
63 Winifred St., West St. Paul, 651-228-1245
Beautiful, old-fashioned cakes and pies, homemade in this century-old neighborhood haunt, run by the great-granddaughter of founder Ed Jerabek. Here sits the Twin Cities’ best chocolate cake, a real Lady Baltimore cake, and honest pasties (those two-fisted meat-stuffed pies).
La Patisserie
1570 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, 651-690-8973
Chocolates, petits fours, pastries, wedding cakes, and cookies. A small, pretty spot.
PJ Murphy’s Bakery
1279 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, 651-699-9292
A small and unassuming place with predictably good doughnuts, cookies, pastries, and bars. The moist, light, banana bread is worth checking out.
Roseville Bakery
1147 Larpenteur Ave. W., Roseville, 651-489-1714
A classic place with cakes, cookies, scones, pastries, éclairs, and deep-fried croissants (for the brave or foolish). Small-town vibe and pretty good doughnuts—in fact, so good, they often are sold out before noon.
Swede Hollow Café
725 E. 7th St., St. Paul, 651-776-8810
Yes, the caramel rolls are rated number one by the Pioneer Press; yes, the focaccia is handmade. But the real reason to come to Swede Hollow Café is the place and space. Perched on the hill rising above Swede Hollow Park, this cozy historic brownstone opens to a flower-filled, brick-lined patio, where you can sip an iced latte, nibble an apricot scone, and watch the seasons change. When the cold winds blow, head inside for a Belgian chocolate mocha and warm bread pudding.
Trotter’s Café & Bakery
232 Cleveland Ave. N., St. Paul, 651-645-8950
This natural foods café features home-baked breads and desserts that change daily and weekly—try the Chocolate Chaos cupcakes, apple upside-down coffeecake, and muffins sweetened with maple syrup. There are cookies, bars, and breads, such as the cornmeal Cheddar and oat-sunflower-millet, all made with organic whole grains.
West Metro A Baker’s Wife
4200 28th Ave. S., Mpls., 612 729-6898
Simple, inconspicuous A Baker’s Wife is crammed with tremendous fudge brownies, luminous lemon tarts, and nearly the best cake doughnuts in town, plus delicate tarts made with nuts and fresh fruits. Do try the buttery dinner rolls; eat a cookie on the way out.
Bellaria Bakery & Chocolatier
4430 Excelsior Blvd., St. Louis Park, 925-224-0303
Bellaria is tucked into the busy corner across from Trader Joe’s and its pastries are intense and haunting—try the individual dark chocolate mousse cakes sheathed in a chocolate mirror glaze or the butter-pecan coffeecakes tied up with a striped bow. Truffles, hand-crafted of fine European chocolate, are gold medal worthy.
Birchwood Cafe
3311 E. 25th St., Mpls., 612-722-4474
This beloved organic, vegetarian restaurant changes its many dessert selections at whim, though there are a few you can count on—the carrot cake, the cinnamon-raisin bread pudding served warm, the real apple pie. Birchwood’s scones set the standard.
butter bakery café
3544 Grand Ave. S., Mpls., 612-521-7401
This small and sunny neighborhood spot features great buttermilk biscuits, cookies, brownies, and tea breads.
Country Cake Cupboard and Café
491 N. Willow Dr., Long Lake, 952-476-0222
Cakes that grace the photo spreads of Martha Stewart Living; cakes so winsome they are flown to both coasts for weddings; hand-painted cakes bedecked with lilies or daisies or shocks of wheat; European–style fondant-draped. This house-cum-bakery café on the fringe of the western suburbs creates beguiling cheesecakes, pastries, and seasonal tarts. The Berry Swan confection—a tender shortbread crust cradling French pastry cream and berries—will steal your heart.
Cupcake
3338 University Ave. SE, Mpls., 612 378-4818
As darling as its tiny cakes, this is one sweet place. Try the babycakes, mini-me versions of cupcakes: red velvet, like the red chocolate cake Grandma once made, or the chi tea cake, or the black-and-white Mad Cow, or the Black Bottom. Cupcake features about fifty different kinds of cupcakes. Don’t miss the pull-apart pastries—cinnamon-sugared or iced.
Denny’s 5th Ave. Bakery
7840 5th Ave. S., Bloomington, 952-881-4445
Those of us who mourned the loss of Blackey’s Bakery in Northeast Minneapolis may take heart that a few of its classics can be found at Denny’s, especially the Danish, the dark pumpernickel, the rye, the crackly kringle, as well as those buttery rolls and perfect burger buns (with just enough pouf). It’s even worth the hike from Northeast.
Edelweiss Bakery Cafe
16186 Main Ave. SE, Prior Lake, 952-440-2773
Remember The Sound of Music? (“Edelweiss, every morning you greet me . . . .") This small, charming place, right off the main drag in Prior Lake, conjures up the promise of Swiss light and flavor. Danish pastry cream snuggles into a flaky pastry nest, the croissants are tender-crisp, the pretty tarts coddle gemlike berries. Check out the walnut-raisin, multigrain, and dark, dense pumpernickel loaves.
Franklin Street Bakery
1020 Franklin Ave. E., Mpls., 612-879-5730
You can find Franklin Street Bakery’s winning breads around the Cities, but it’s worth stopping at the mother ship for focaccia with caramelized onion and roasted red peppers, crumbly rosemary corn cakes, and wheaten artisan breads. You’ll find cupcakes and carrot cakes, dense buttery pound cakes, simple and elegant layer cakes, and stylish fruit and nut tarts, plus the best apple-pecan coffeecake around.
French Meadow Bakery & Café
2610 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls., 612-870-7855
Rustic sourdough breads are this bakery’s foundation—those chewy, dense country-white and multigrain loaves (yeast-free breads too) can now be found all around the Twin Cities and are shipped across the country. At the home store, the big bakery case is long on toothsome sweets—two-fisted brownies, sticky caramel rolls, and tender, berry-chocked muffins.
Gigi’s Café
822 W. 36th St., Mpls., 612-825-0818
Coffeecakes loaded with crumble topping, jumbo chocolate chip cookies, and buttery pound cakes sweeten this bustling place. Spread out with the newspaper at one of the big tables, or color with a toddler, or gather for a committee meeting. The baristas are as sunny as this airy place; stopping at Gigi’s in the morning is a bright way to start the day.
Isles Bun & Coffee
1424 W. 28th St., Mpls., 612-870-4466
Cinnamon buns the size of your corgi or twisted into small “puppy dog tails.” Go Saturday morning, no one seems to mind the long lines, jostling, and chatting. It’s hard to be crabby breathing in that warm, intoxicating smell of baking from scratch. Choose from hunks of crumbly, fruity coffeecakes, sticky pecan buns, or tender scones. There’s extra icing to pile on the puppy dog tails. Life is swell.
Lucia’s Bakery & To Go
1428 W. 31st St., Mpls., 612-825-1572
Lucia’s lovelies—those tender Budapest bundts, rich scones, dense corn bread, fruit cobbler, delicate madeleines, and fresh wheaten breads (the nutty, whole-grain house bread and chewy sourdough), plus those adorable meringues. Stick around for a crepe (savory cheese and veggie or bittersweet chocolate) and set a spell at the long table in front of the plate glass window. Watch Uptown go by.
May Day Café
3440 Bloomington Ave. S., Mpls., 612-729-5627
Vegetarians and vegans never had it so good. Though a vegan scone may sound like an oxymoron, the cherry-pecan and the banana-walnut, both made without butter, put others to shame. Dense, crumbly, and tender, they are made for dipping in a soy latte. The croissants are among the best around town. May Day is superfriendly, funky, filled with beautiful artwork, located near Powderhorn Park—and a great place to hang.
Mel-O-Glaze Bakery & Donut Shop
4800 28th Ave. S., Mpls., 612-729-9316
The best glazed doughnuts, made fresh all day long, plus apple fritters, cinnamon rolls, pies, and cakes. But go for the doughnuts.
Moose & Sadie’s Cafe
212 3rd Ave. N., Mpls., 612-371-0464
Susan Muskat (formerly of Birchwood Cafe) bakes the best scones in the Twin Cities at Moose & Sadie’s, as well as killer caramel-pecan rolls, brownies, and muffins—all once beloved at Birchwood Cafe. This airy, lively café is nestled in the heart of the North Loop.
Muddy Paws Cheesecake Cafe
2528 Hennepin Ave., Mpls., 612-377-4441
Muddy Paws runs deep—more than 180 kinds of cheesecake are available (not every day though) along with specials and variations. The winner? Real New York cheesecake. But it’s hard to resist the key lime, or the Snickers–bar, or mocha-cappuccino, or white chocolate–chunk. Try a slice; then take a cake home.
New French Bakery
2609 26th Ave. S., Mpls., 612-728-0193
Yes, we have long loved New French baguettes (and sorely miss the New French Café). It’s grown beyond baguettes though. Ciabatta, loaves of red onion–rosemary sourdough, cranberry-pecan, double-raisin rye, whole-wheat–walnut, and sesame-semolina are now sold in markets across the Twin Cities and at the retail outlet, where they’re baked.
Patisserie Margo
5133 Gus Young Lane, Edina, 952-926-0548
Step into a floury, buttery, elegant place—a genuine French patisserie. Find delicate tartlets (lemon, berry), substantial baguettes (with just enough tooth to suggest a double-rise), and stout-laced mini gingerbread with a ginger-packed kick. Plus the classic trufflelike flourless torte, empress charlotte, and, during the holidays, the real buche du noel. Margo puts Paris in reach.
Patrick’s Bakery & Café
6010 Lyndale Ave. S. (inside Bachman’s), Mpls., 612-861-9277; 2928 W. 66th St., Richfield, 612-861-7570; 331 Broadway Ave. S., Wayzata, 952-345-6100
French without the attitude, Patrick’s places draw you in with glistening tarts, snowy meringues, and cream tortes. Also expect Viennoise, croissants, baguettes, batons, and macaroons (and a very good quiche).
Rustica Bakery
816 W. 46th St., Mpls., 612-822-1119
Here is a truly traditional levain, one that’s had time to rise again and again, then baked into a crusty, tooth-tuggingly, tangy loaf. There’s simple white bread, so right for PB&J, yielding tender, buttery slices. Try the frangipane tart—a golden disk of almond paste and pear perfection. The fruit-and-nut loaves are moist, dense, richly sweet; the focaccia and olive breads, paired with good cheese, make a great picnic supper down by the lake. Pick up some cookies (bittersweet chocolate) or a flaky croissant. Special breads are offered daily—Tuesday's Pugilese gives space to Wednesday’s Canadas de Azucar, that thin, sugar-crusted flat loaf. Find Rustica's breads at Surdyk's and the Linden Hills, Seward, and Eastside Natural Foods Co-ops.
Sarah Jane’s Bakery
2853 NE Johnson St., Mpls., 612-789-2827
No croissants, no scones, just old-fashioned doughnuts (fluffy and moist under their crackle of glaze), real maple sticks, fruit-filled Bismarcks. Not to be missed—the chocolate butter-cream square is a chocolate-stuffed–frosted doughnut. Everything’s made in small batches, by hand. Sarah Jane’s makes a mighty fine, quite substantial fruitcake, just right for an auntie. Friday morning’s doughnut selection is best, but get there early while the doughnuts are still warm.
Turtle Bread Company
3421 W. 44th St., Mpls., 612-924-6013; 4762 Chicago Ave., Mpls. 612-823-7333; 1 Financial Plaza, 6th St. at 2nd Ave. S. (skyway), Mpls., 612-455-2552
One of the first places that made truly artisan bread, Turtle still makes sourdough rye that's tangy and satisfying. Pair it with sharp cheese and a good stout and you’ve got dinner. The classic slicing loaf has smooth, milky flavor and delicate texture, and the chocolate bread, loaded with dark chips, is moist and dense, great with strawberries and Champagne. You’ll find spice buns and cardamom braids, all manner of croissants, Danish, and scones, along with challah that folks line up for. Everything is made from scratch, and still delicious after all these years.
Wuollet Bakery
Edina, Mpls., Robbinsdale, St. Paul, Wayzata, White Bear Lake
Whimsical cakes (decorated with dinosaurs or soccer players) and far more—from marzipan to strawberry-soufflé cakes to crumbles and glossy tortes. It’s a sure bet for office doughnuts on Friday or sugar cookies for the school meeting. Traditional and consistent, count on Wuollet to be reliably good.
Yum! Kitchen & Bakery
4000 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, 952-922-4000
This crisp café is all shiny white subway tiles and stainless steel chic. The servers in cheery red baseball caps bob behind the counters, gathering retro wonders: sticky caramel pull-aparts, supersweet Nut Goody Bar bars, a rhubarb upside-down cake (tart and rich), an endearingly old-fashioned coconut layer cake with seven-minute icing, plus cupcakes and sacks of mini chocolate chip cookies. Yum!
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