Do you need someone to tell you calories don’t count today? Do you need an excuse to eat dessert before dinner? Look no further, we’re here to tell you to have your cake (or ice cream, pie, pastry, candy, gelato) and certainly eat it, too.
With an extensive list of bakeries, ice-creameries, cafes, gelato shops, dessert bars, and candy stores in Portland, Maine, here’s just a small taste of local sweet treats to help you surrender to your sweet tooth this National Dessert Day, October 14th.
Flatbread Company rightfully boasts, “real food, served by real people, in a real environment” and their dessert is no exception. The irresistible Mama Santo’s Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is warmed in a wood-fired oven, served alongside Walpole Creamery chocolate or vanilla ice cream, drizzled with warm homemade chocolate sauce and topped with homemade whipped cream sweetened with Maine-made maple syrup.
When you think of Lazzari, you probably immediately think of their wood fired Neapolitan-style pizza, but have you tried their Italian inspired desserts? The Lemon Ricotta Zeppole’s topped with luxardo syrup are not to be missed.
Gorgeous Gelato, known for their velvety texture and bold flavors, makes their gelato fresh daily with all natural ingredients: the finest local whole milk and the very best creams and sugars. They’re so committed to sourcing quality ingredients for their authentic Italian gelato they import their Hazelnuts all the way from Piedmont, and their Pistachio from Sicily! Gelato Cakes are also exclusively available at Gorgeous’s Portland location.
Celebrating an anniversary? a birthday? a bachelorette? Chaval, a local Brasserie featuring Spanish and French inspired cuisine, offers custom cakes in a variety of flavors and sizes, made by James Beard Nominated Pastry Chef Ilma Lopez. Custom cakes are available to be enjoyed at the restaurant or to be picked up for a celebration at home!
A bakery vibe by day and dessert bar vibe by night, Gross serves up treats whenever your sweet tooth might strike. Thursday through Sunday from 8am to 3pm Gross operates as a bakery with unique sweet and savory breakfast bites like their sausage hand pies, everything scones with goat cheese filling, coffees and more! In the evening, you can stop by for seasonally-based desserts paired with their delicious cocktails, like the Espresso Martini featuring local Coffee By Design espresso, Rum and Zucca Rabarbaro.
Everything is homemade and personalized at Zephyr Ice, Portland Maine’s hub for Shave Ice. From the ice-cream base to the cap, you choose your adventure:
Step one: Choose a homemade ice-cream as your base. The macadamia ice cream is particularly dreamy.
Step two: Choose your homemade syrups! All syrups are made with real fruit juice and cane sugar- never artificial flavors, dyes or corn syrups. Taste through the rainbow with an expansive list of flavors: raspberry, strawberry, watermelon, orange, peach, mango, banana, pineapple, lemon, kiwi, lime, blueberry, passionfruit, guava, coconut, and the list goes on.
Step three: Cap it off! Add a snow cap, toasted coconut, or Li Hing.
Check out their cart in the warmer seasons, or their brick and mortar open year-round.
Two Fat Cats makes and bakes their pies from scratch daily to ensure ultimate freshness. Both locations are stocked daily with pies and treats available on a first-come, first-served basis. To make sure you get your favorite pie, local preorder is available, as well as nationwide shipping for select pies so you can enjoy homemade Maine treats across the country.
Standard Baking Company has been serving artisanal baked goods in Downtown Portland for nearly 30 years. If you stop in on any given day, you can catch a glimpse of hand rolled croissants, brioche and scones being prepared in their open production bakery. Don’t let the line at the door discourage you, it moves rather quickly and you might just be rewarded with a treat still warm from the oven.
At Chocolat Passions, production is limited and ingredients are always pure, organic and fair trade: handpicked, local fruits, the freshest nuts, organic creams and butters. The incredible hues used to create their colorful chocolate masterpieces come from airbrushed cocoa butter. Talk about artisanal! It’s no wonder Chocolat Passions won Best Chocolatier of Portland.
Vina Ann’s is the brainchild of two lifelong best friends, Hannah and Liz, who collaborated their passions for baking to serve the Greater Portland area with their delicious pies and baked goods made from the heart. Vina Ann’s keeps things fresh and innovative by creating monthly offering menus. This month, a few standout stars on the menu are the Cardamom Apple Pie, Salted Caramel Blondies, Caramel Apple Cookies and Maple Cream Whoopie Pies. Experience Vina Ann’s for dessert at The Grill Room or stop by Buzz Coffee for your morning treat.
