Coffee & Treats in Lighthouse Point

The aroma of slow-simmering caramel and chocolate wafts through Hoffman’s Chocolate’s Greenacres headquarters. To demystify its origins, the shop’s chocolatiers have outfitted their kitchen with observation windows, granting customers the chance to admire their delicate handiwork and holiday helper subcontractors. They meticulously lace European truffles with chocolate drizzles, and dunk cherries and pretzels in milk and dark chocolate. This devotion to small batches of handmade treats extends back to the 1970s, when founder Paul Hoffman began peddling treats out of his small Lake Worth chocolate shop. Over the decades, chocolatiers have expanded the bakery’s repertoire to include whimsical confections such as enormous fortune cookies and seasonal treats.

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.

Palm Beach Smoothies’ baristas are known for shaking things up—both literally and figuratively. The colorful shop flouts tradition by blending fresh oranges and pineapples with such unconventional smoothie add-ons as Red Bull, green tea, applesauce, and cinnamon. Aside from fruit-based concoctions, the baristas whip up five varieties of smoothies with creamy almond milk and low-fat yogurt. When ordering an indulgent blend of graham crackers and marshmallows, guests can ask their barista to top off the s’more-style shake with whey protein, wheatgrass, or the fiber-packed pages of a campfire songbook. Each of the more than 25 smoothie varieties pairs nicely with the café’s grilled paninis, turkey wraps, and organic steel-cut oatmeal.

Don’t be fooled by the spotless white and powder blue walls that frame DIY Frozen Yogurt’s self-serve pumps—in spite of this sleek aesthetic, a rugged do-it-yourself ethic has found its way into the shop’s desserts. Customers take control of their own destinies as they choose from 14 rotating flavors of frozen yogurt and more 30 fruit, cereal, and candy toppings. Creamy swirls of low-fat yogurt are sold by the ounce, so feel free to pile as much into your cup as you need to fill your appetite or the gas tank of a sworn enemy’s sports car.

When ESPN asked chef Mario Batali in 2013 what he was planning to eat during the biggest pro-football game of the year, his Baltimore-related dessert answer was simple: Charm City Cupcakes. With 65 flavors, a choice of mini and regular cupcake sizes, and four area locations, it's easy to see what may have inspired Batali's answer. The bakery’s pastry chefs slather just-whisked buttercream atop classic vanilla, chocolate, and red-velvet cake bases, and they also go more exotic with Grand Marnier or peaches 'n' cream cupcakes. Animals and TV characters often top kids' creations, requiring chefs to call upon the same decorating techniques they reveal to students during their specialty classes. At lessons, cupcake-artisans-in-training learn piping techniques, how to make frosting, and how to make iced flowers without the hassle of fertilizing regular flowers with milk and butter.

Inside curved glass cases at Alice’s Ice Cream Emporium, the colorful crests and waves of gelato tempt the eye with their garnishes of fruit and cookies. The creamy confections, which are made fresh daily, are scooped into either the familiar cups and cones or more elaborate creations, such as brownie sundaes, cookie sandwiches, and scale-model Ferraris made out of cups and cones. The staff serves their treats amid the emporium’s playful décor, characterized by colorful pieces including a long row of purple booths and small chandeliers against one wall. Magenta and green chairs cluster around circular tables, where staffers drop off steamy espresso drinks, hot paninis, and caprese salads.