Coffee & Treats in Kendall

Elite Cake Creations began as a little bakery in Cuba way back in 1921, so it's had nearly a century to perfect its cakes, desserts, and pastries. Today, Jorge Garcia continues the long family tradition started by his grandfather, using tried-and-true recipes that call for buttercream frosting and fondant with vanilla-, chocolate-, and marble-cake bases. Garcia can customize cakes to look like everything from a flame-painted speedboat to a bucket of cold Coronas. He extends this art form to cupcakes and push-pop cakes. He also relishes the opportunity to craft cakes for special occasions, constructing eight-layer wedding cakes, birthday cakes shaped like wrapped gifts, and 50th anniversary cakes made of solid gold.

More than just a simple dairy dispensary, Eco Yogurt Lounge pairs sweet treats with environmental stewardship in a space that’s more club than ice cream shack. More than 30 flavors of traditional frozen yogurt, including wild strawberry lemonade, peanut butter, and blueberry tart, play well with sugar-free, tart and agave-sweetened varieties, many of which also contain vitamin and protein boosts to replenish bodies with nutrients. Once patrons have selected their swirls, they can head over to a series of small alcoves, where a toppings bar with self-serve cookie, candy, and fruit pieces awaits sweet inspiration. Yogurt in hand, they can sit at one of the modern white benches or plush chairs as brilliant LED lights reflect a wall of color-changing waves across the room. In addition to placating sweet teeth, Eco Yogurt Lounge also allays consciences, supporting earth awareness by using recycled materials and donating a percentage of the proceeds to ecologically friendly organizations.

The bakers at Mmmm…. Cupcakes whip up artfully decorated handheld treats in a scrumptious spectrum of traditional, gluten-free, and vegan varieties. Utilizing 30% less sugar and a full line of organic ingredients, the bakers craft cakes ranging from full-sized desserts to easily weaponized cupcake push-pops. All baking is done in the shop’s kosher-certified kitchen, allowing customers of all ilks to chomp into freshly baked bites of Butterfinger, cran-orange, or guava con queso cupcakes. Bakers also teach the basic skills of custom cupcakery in one-hour lessons, in which students learn how to decorate and devour cupcakes tastier than a fresh-baked vending machine.

On a trip to Georgia after giving birth to her third child, Desiree Polazzo had her first taste of a bite-sized orb of cake that—despite her strict dieting to get back into pre-baby shape—had her hooked. Awed by the decadent treat, Desiree returned home to Florida and headed straight for her kitchen to experiment with a recipe of her own. She finally architected a dulcet, velvety cake pop that recaptured the excitement of that first Georgia pop, she opened Cake Pop-It to share her discovery with the community’s sweet teeth.

In the years since, Desiree has let her creativity take the reigns of her confection-crafting process, decorating each pop with a whimsical design or turning it into an edible character replete with a smiling face and a mysterious past. Cake Pop-It’s staff of bakers also forges other sugary nibbles including custom cakes and cupcakes with inventive flavors such as salted caramel, key-lime pie, and crumb cake.

Chefs Paul Berger and Scott Fischer met as contestants on Master Chef, and even though neither made it far on the show, they quickly discovered a mutual passion for locally produced foods and unique snacks. It wasn’t long before the duo poured their shared enthusiasm into opening Wicked Awesome Snackbar, a casual neighborhood eatery that uses entirely locally grown and organic ingredients and bakes all its eclectic breads and pastries fresh daily. The menu features casual small plates such as salads sprinkled with blue cheese and craisins, sandwiches laden with vegetables and seasoned meats, and three pizzas named after Boston neighborhoods famous for containing more pizzas than people.

To orchestrate meal finales, Wicked Awesome crafts an ever-evolving snack menu of sweets such as double-chocolate-chip cookies and salted-caramel whoopie pies. More than 30 local and national craft beers complement each dish, a few of which even find their way into the eatery’s breads and desserts. The menu appears etched on a chalkboard behind the bar and, like the giant lazy susan that supports the earth’s mass, rotates daily.