The Sweet Spots
Check out our interactive location map to find the most creative ways across the country to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Sugar Porn 19 Photos
Flip through pics of some of the most decadent, mouthwatering desserts money can buy.
Meet the Contributors 16 Photos
These hilarious sugar fiends take the cake (literally –– and then review it).
Only on CookingChannelTV.com
Digital-Original Series: Sweetnr
When desserts start using dating apps, crazy mash-ups are born.
The Country's Top 5 Best Desserts 4 Videos
We've rounded-up the best pies, doughnuts, cupcakes and breakfast treats around.
Instagram Dessert Pics Actually Worth Looking At 26 Photos
Episodes
See Episode GuideSomething Old, Something New
Bang Candy Company in Nashville gives the mellow marshmallow a glamorous makeover. Semi Sweet Bakery reinvents familiar homebaked goods into delicious decadence. Wooden Spoon stirs up American classics. Donna Bell's Bake Shop channels the South in their menu, including pie bars and decadent layered cakes.
Sugar High
It's time for the ultimate sugar high. In Miami, Brain Freeze Nitrogen Ice Cream Lab is concocting delicious creations, and offering a mad scientist challenge to eat 30 scoops of ice cream in 30 minutes. At Spot Dessert Bar in New York City, imaginations run wild with their Asian-inspired plated desserts, including a riff on the classic chocolate lava cake featuring an explosion of creamy green tea. And in Southern California, Afters Ice Cream delivers two desserts in one with their donut ice cream sandwiches!
Crazy Delicious Doughnuts
Across the country, doughnut shops are coming up with innovative new ways to reinvent this crowd favorite. In Portland, Ore., there's a place that specializes in grown up versions that feature bold glazes and boozy fillings. In New York, old-school mini doughnuts made fresh to order are all the rage with the 15 different kinds of flavored sugars that let you customize your own for a bite. And in San Francisco, a charming little doughnut shop has developed a loyal following thanks to their light, supple doughnut and seasonal, silky cream fillings.
Childhood Favorites
We found the top spots from Seattle to New York to keep the kid in you hopped up on sweets. Boxed supermarket desserts take on a grown-up twist with flavors like black sesame or passion fruit, as do the freshest of fruit pops, in two boutique shops in New York. For a more innocent indulgence, try sprinkle-scattered hummingbird cupcakes in Seattle or caramel apples dipped in cookie crumbs in Chicago.
Modern Comfort
Dominique Ansel in New York takes traditional French pastries and bakes them for the 21st century. Angel Food Bakery in Chicago satisfies the cravings for retro American sweet treats. French and Vietnamese flavors and traditions come together at Elizabeth Street Cafe in Austin. Salty Tart creates pastries with a midwestern flair in Minneapolis.
Sweet Start
We travel the country finding the sweetest way to start your day! At Holy Donut in Portland, Maine, the dough for their Maine Blueberry Donuts and Sweet Potato Ginger Glazed Donuts includes mashed potatoes. At Kolache in Brooklyn, they take on the Texan kolache pastry with a Berry Sweet Cheese version filled with three kinds of berries, and Orange Rolls. Finally, there's a decadent breakfast of Carrot Cake Pancakes and Fried Chicken and Waffle Sandwiches at the Dixie Supply Bakery and Cafe in Charleston, S.C.
Coffee Break
We found the most unique sweets to suit your morning cup o' Joe. Abraco's morning pastries are packed with bold flavors like black sesame cardamom spiced cake and saffron sugar babka. Crespella adds a taste of Italy to your coffee with their crepes flavored and topped with tiramisu and cannoli. Bang Bang Pie in Chicago bakes decadent pies, from blueberry to a frozen sage lemon summer pie. Angel Food Bakery in Minneapolis serves donut bread pudding and tres leche cupcakes.
Morning Munchies
We're going on an ocean-hopping journey from Hawaii to the mainland for some magnificent morning munchies. We start with sweet unique ways to add fruits and veggies to your morning meal with a tropical Breakfast Bruschetta, Blue Corn Zucchini Bread, and a Strawberry Mint Hand Pie that will have you practically jumping out of bed. Next, a dizzying array of donuts from Glazed, Chocolate Malasadas, Apple Fritters, and a Donut Cake! If you're wanting something a little lighter, cozy up to some Cinnamon Sugar Pie Crisps or a multigrain Muesli Toast with nuts, berries, honey and green-tea custard.
Colorado Sweets
Colorado has it all: Mountains, lakes and sweets. Head to High Point Creamery in Denver for unusual ice cream flavors like lemon ice pop with raspberry swirl and earl grey tea with shortbread, or have a slice of ice cream cake drizzled with hot fudge. In Boulder, Pizzeria Locale finishes off their dinner menu with three desserts done simply and perfectly. You can order the seasonal biscotti, butterscotch budino, or saltimbocca -- baked pizza dough filled with gooey, melted chocolate-hazelnut spread. And also in Denver, Glaze: They serve German layered cakes called baumkuchen that will amaze and delight your eyes and taste buds.
Austin Hangouts
From an ice cream shop to a pop-up bake sale, we found the best hangouts in Austin, Texas, to satisfy the sweet tooth. At Lick Ice Creams the flavors of Texas will hit you with each lick. Jump in line at pop-up F&D Bake Sale to try pastries that reinvent American traditions. Cake & Spoon serves personal-sized Southern sweets. Delish Bakery serves sugary decadence in downtown Austin.
Sweet Imagination
Life's too short for boring desserts, so we're sinking our teeth into some of the country's most imaginative sweets. Moojo is helping keep Austin weird and oh so delicious with customized ice cream sandwiches made with warm cookies. Hail Mary in Brooklyn is the answer to your sweet tooth's prayers thanks to American classics with colorful, modern makeovers. At Super Chunk Sweets and Treats in Scottsdale, Arizona, mouthwatering desserts are brilliantly packaged in small bites that are big on flavor.
Crazy Delicious Doughnuts
Across the country, doughnut shops are coming up with innovative new ways to reinvent this crowd favorite. In Portland, Ore., there's a place that specializes in grown up versions that feature bold glazes and boozy fillings. In New York, old-school mini doughnuts made fresh to order are all the rage with the 15 different kinds of flavored sugars that let you customize your own for a bite. And in San Francisco, a charming little doughnut shop has developed a loyal following thanks to their light, supple doughnut and seasonal, silky cream fillings.
Old is New Again
Classic desserts get deliciously updated at three sweet shops across the country. Skull and Cakebones rocks vegan cupcakes in Austin, Texas, with flavors like basil berry, dirty chai and just beet it, you'll be singing a new tune about dairy free desserts. Valerie Confections in Los Angeles is resurrecting vintage cake recipes with mouthwatering results: Head here for a slice of coffee crunch cake or banana shortcake. And in Brooklyn, Hay Rosie uses unusual ingredients like champagne and hops to flavor super creamy scoops of ice cream.
Breakfast Pastries
Nothing beats waking up in the morning to the scent of hot buttery sweet pastries. And these breakfast pastries from Oregon, California, New York and Connecticut are unlike anything you've had before. Once that morning coffee kicks in, you'll need to dig in.
Sweet Pick Me Up
These sweet treats will help tide you over during a long afternoon! Tandem Coffee and Bakery in Portland, Maine, will brighten your day with their Coconut Almond Cream Pie and their Strawberry-Almond Cornmeal Cake. EVO Craft Bakery in Charleston, S.C., will perk you up with its selection of eye-opening combinations like the PB&C with peanut butter, dark chocolate and chipotle, and the O'Snap with white chocolate with spicy ground ginger snaps. And in New York City, Chalait is breaking new ground by adding green tea to desserts with their Matcha Coconut Custard Croissant and Matcha White Chocolate Bark.
Cool Cookies Sandwiches
There's nothing better than the perfect cookie -- unless you take two of them and put some filling in between! At DC Patisserie they make delicate macaron with delicious American flavors. Milk Cult in Washington, D.C., has a true fan following for their unique ice cream sandwiches. And in New York, an art gallery/spice lab creates little sandwich cookies exploding with flavor.
Breakfast Sweets
Of bakeries and brunches from the Pacific Northwest to New York City, we've found the best reasons to roll out of bed in the morning. Think outside the toaster and try a warm slice of brioche sweetened with almond paste and homemade almond syrup, a hand-forged donut, a towering stack of peanut-butter filled chocolate waffles, or a coffee cake made just for you (with a single-drip artisan coffee brew to match).
Updated Classics
Trigger your fondest food memories with flavors you never remembered in our favorite picks for revisited retro and nostalgic desserts. Indulge in caramel corn in San Francisco, a Meyer Lemon Shaker Pie, the creamiest of cheesecakes to have all to yourself, or a slice of birthday cake unlike any mother ever made.
Classic Twists
We discover classics desserts that have been pushed into uncharted territory. Pies and cakes turned into cookies, ice cream made from goat's milk, salt water taffy that stretches the rules and pies that are renowned -- and served raw.
Luscious Layers
We're stopping in at three unique sweet spots that deliver layers upon layers of incredible flavors and textures. Union Fare Bakery in New York City is flipping the switch on the classic croissant and baking up flavors like red velvet and birthday cake. When it comes to pies in unusual shapes and flavors, Slab Sandwiches and Pie in Seattle is at the top of their game. If you love layers, Cake Bar in Dallas displays 14 colorful layer cakes daily, and every slice brings a sweet smile.
Grown-Up Goodies
In this episode, childhood treats that are all grown up. In Portland, Ore., an ice cream shop adds cocktails to the mix-ins. In Healdsberg, Calif., the area's bountiful produce finds its way into hyper-seasonal cupcakes. And in New York, chocolate is eaten unroasted and raw, infused with some very sophisticated ingredients.
Cakes
We're returning the favor and celebrating cakes in every form, flavor and size. Take a slice of inspired, traditional French cakes from New York City, over-the-top masterpieces from a San Francisco mainstay, Seattle's best delicate and exotic coffee cakes or out-of-the-box cupcakes. Cakes never deserved their pedestal more.
Sweet and Sticky
Sweet, sticky, ooey gooey. It's everything you want in a sweet, delectable dessert. We take a tour from the east coast to the west coast, tasting our way through unique caramel bread puddings, ooey gooey sticky buns, mini bites of caramelized goodness and old fashioned candy like you've never seen before.
Cute and Sweet
Sometimes good things come in small packages, and we visit three locations that pack big-time flavors in small servings. First stop is Cake Monkey Bakery in Los Angeles, where their mini layer cakes allow you to have your favorite cake -- and eat the whole thing! And the fluffy, coconut-coated Mogul takes a cute childhood favorite and makes it even better than you remember. Next stop is Tiny Pies in Austin, Texas, where a mother-daughter duo are making some of the best pies you've ever tasted, like the brownie-pecan combo Texas Two Step and the juicy Peach and Blueberry, and sizing them to fit in the palm of your hand. Finally, it's a twist on some classic French pastries at Canele by Celine, where delectable canele -- crispy on the outside, custard-like inside -- come not just in a rainbow of flavors, but bite-sized as well so you can try them all!
Small Bites
Need a nibble of something sweet? Take a bite of sticky, stacked baklava and creative candies from Brooklyn and Queens, N.Y., or a tiny taste of decadence with twisted French classics in Chicago or upscale Farmer's Market fare in San Francisco. These treats may be tiny, but are huge on flavor.
Cookies
Craving cookies that are too cool for your childhood cookie jar? Nibble on a crumbly, oat-flecked peanut butter sandwich cookie in New York, a psychedelic sugar cookie from Brooklyn, a serious chocolate chip cookie with cocoa nibs in San Francisco, or a wacky snickerdoodle "cookie pizza" from Chicago.
Sugar Central
