Twisted Sisters Cupcakes, Virginia Beach

When you walk into the Sugar Shack Cafe, you can smell the reason why owner Tracy made it on to Food Network's Cupcake Wars, not to mention why it was named the best of by Coastal Living Magazine for four straight years. The aroma of cakes, brownies and cookies baking fills the bakery as they prepare goods for you to take home. They even put them on the Twisted Sisters Cupcake truck that makes its way through six Hampton Roads cities throughout the week.

According to Julia Child a party without cake is just a meeting. Tracy uses only fresh, wholesome ingredients to craft these gourmet treats. Fresh butter, farm fresh eggs, buttermilk, cream, Madagascar vanilla extracts and beans, and Callebaut cocoa powder mingle in hand-crafted pastries and desserts. Though the selection rotates weekly, some of Tracy's flavors include a cookie dough-stuffed cupcake, a pink lemonade cupcake, and The Keys, a lime curd and cream cheese cupcake atop a graham cracker crust. Back at the cafe, she also puts together cupcake towers, brownies, and cookies. The bakery has its signature three-layer cakes in the 'grab-and-go' case dedicated to occasions such as graduations, birthdays, and weddings.