Coffee & Treats in Gastonia

The baker behind Style And Grace Cupcakes is something of an alchemist; she transforms simple ingredients such as brown sugar and fresh strawberries into moist cupcakes crowned with decadent buttercream frosting. She also bakes cookies, cookie pops, and diabetic-friendly cupcakes made with Splenda. Find these handcrafted desserts at the Gastonia Farmers Market, or have them delivered to your door.

Hollie, the lady behind Sugar Diva's Custom Cakes, bakes fresh, homemade treats from fine ingredients. The business specializes in custom cakes for special occasions such as weddings and birthdays, fashioning them with multiple tiers, elegant accouterments, and stunning designs. They also specialize in smaller treats, which range from gooey chocolate chip cookies and brownies to cupcakes, chocolate fudge, made-to-order pies, and old-fashioned candies.

Family-operated The Shake Shack dishes out locally renowned Tony’s Ice Cream year-round inside its 1,000-square-foot digs. Customers choose from 27 different flavors—16 in the winter months—of Tony’s Ice Cream, made just 20 minutes away in Gastonia. Retro memorabilia such as vintage board games, toys, and a real-life Six Million Dollar Man line shop shelves, tickling the eyes of patrons as they casually tackle cones, floats, sundaes, banana splits, and other creamy delicacies.

From beaches to barbecues, summer means different things to different people. In Katina Cloud's case, it means baking. She spent her girlhood summers in Mississippi helping her grandmother craft homemade cakes. Their bond sparked a love for baking that Katina honors to this day at Kitty's Delights. Made in small batches and individually wrapped, her 10-plus gourmet cookie flavors range from almond toffee to white-chocolate peanut butter. Besides her main cookies, Katina bakes gluten-free varieties, assembles gift baskets, and creates special cookies to benefit Cindy's Hope Chest, an organization that helps women battle breast cancer.

When their daughter, Kai, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Tracy and Patrick Watkins knew they needed to provide her with as much love and care as possible. They quit their jobs as engineers and launched a bakery named after their little girl and her favorite treats. In the kitchen at Kai’s Kookies and More, the couple ices custom sugar cookies by hand, transforming circles into edible basketballs and rectangles into festive American flags, all of which can be dipped into house-brewed coffee or bundled into baskets, boxes, or bouquets. Sweeter than a kiss from Cap’n Crunch, mangoes and strawberries fill several varieties of cupcakes and 3-inch cheesecakes.

In addition to packing their display case with handcrafted confections, Tracy and Patrick supply desserts to eight local restaurants and four Monkey Joe's bounce playgrounds. Visitors can also book Kai's for special events such as tea parties and international summits disguised as children's birthday bashes.