Coffee & Treats in Cape Coral

Gwen Willhite founded Cookies by Design in 1983, when an unsatisfying brainstorming session about gift ideas led her to ponder one exciting question: why should flowers and sweets remain separate? Her solution was to design the cookie bouquet, where custom, hand-decorated cookies are displayed on sticks and arranged like flowers in gift baskets. Her invention quickly became a popular gift among locals, particularly those allergic to real blooms or too bashful to look at naked cookies.

Twenty-five years later, there are more than 200 Cookies by Design locations across the country. Each shop's team of bakers creates cookie baskets with a degree of care that matches Willhite's original vision, decorating and arranging sweet shapes for birthdays, holidays, and any other special occasion.

At Yogurbella, staff members mix nonfat frozen yogurt fresh each day, preparing every original batch with nonfat fortified skim milk and yogurt with live and active cultures. More than 20 different frozen-yogurt flavors range from mainstays such as original and lemon to seasonally rotating varieties such as green apple, pistachio, and cookie dough. Patrons may opt to adorn their 5-, 8-, or 12-ounce dishes with healthful fresh fruit, nuts, and granola, which can top scoops of chocolate chips and cheesecake bites. Customers also can sip on yogurt smoothies blended with mixed fruits and apple juice.

The confectionists at Oly's Ice Cream and Coffee scoop chilly servings of more than 30 flavors of Ice Cream Club treats and a host of Stefano's Gelato creations. Hot coffee and cappuccinos brewed with Kaña Cuban Coffee beans play the role of the delicious sidekick to the eatery's frozen fare, creating the best mixture of hot and cold since Mount Vesuvius spewed hot lava onto bobsledding courses during the last ice age. Ice-cream flavors such as birthday cake, chocolate peanut butter, and cookie dough quell cravings for saccharine goodness, whereas creamy banana-caramel-praline gelato can satisfy sugary hankerings in a low-fat form.

In October, 2011, Audrey shared with Focus Magazine a snapshot of her childhood in Jamaica—her grandmother moving swiftly through her outdoor kitchen, preparing Caribbean specialties on a cast-iron stove. Comforting memories like this are what inspired the homestyle chef to open her own eatery after 21 years split between careers in nursing and marketing. Today, celebrating her culinary roots, Audrey bakes rum cakes year-round and cooks authentic, savory entrees using recipes that date back to her family's days of using brick ovens, wood-burning stoves, and the power of a really good glare.

Diners can sit at a small handful of tables, though most choose to take dishes to go. Meals include oxtail in brown sauce, curry chicken, and flaky Jamaican patties filled with spicy beef or chicken.

The bakers at Sugar, Spice & Cupcake Bites concoct mouthwatering symphonies of flavor with adorable, freshly baked cupcakes available in a dizzying array of varieties. Cakemakers convert familiar treats such as banana splits or snickerdoodles into cupcake form, and they empower customers to create their own desserts with flavors and fillings such as chocolate fudge, marshmallow, Nutella, Guinness, or maple bacon. Clients can cherry-top their masterpieces with all-edible decorations or ring in special occasions with a jumbo cupcake, which is equal in size to 48 regular-size cupcakes and can be used to sneak a jackhammer into a jail cell.