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10 great Delaware places to satisfy a sweet tooth

Patricia Talorico
The News Journal

Looking for great bread? Holiday-themed cookies or cakes? A German stollen? Yule Log?

Check out these cafes and bakeries located throughout the state. 

Bavarian Bakery & Deli

1819 S. DuPont Highway, Dover, 302-744-8598, www.yourfavoritebakery.com

Christmas Stollen is made at Bavarian Bakery in Dover.

German natives Andreas Janke and his sister Monika Urquhart opened Bavarian Bakery in July 2017. Janke, the head baker, had formerly headed the old Frankfurt Bakery also in Dover.

The siblings now offer sandwiches and a variety of Bavarian favorites like rye bread, Laugenbroetchen or "pretzel rolls," brotchen, a hard and crusty German roll, and Black Forest Cake. 

Bavarian Bakery in Dover has been operating since July 2017.

For the holiday, they'll be baking Weihnachtsstollen or stollen. The German fruit bread, traditionally served at Christmas, is studded with nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit, and iced with white frosting. Plain stollen without marzipan is $16.95, and one with marzipan is $17.95. Orders must be placed at least two days in advance.

Bing's Bakery

253 E. Main St., Newark, 302-737-5310; www.bingsbakery.com

You can get a Buche de Noel, or Yule Log, at Bing's Bakery in Newark. It's $27.95 and comes in vanilla and chocolate flavors.

This old-school, scratch bakery has been a Delaware favorite since Russell and Selena Bing started running it in 1946 and changed the name to Bing’s Bakery. Since 2005, it's been run by the Guzzi family.

Bing's has a wide variety of holiday confections ranging from Danish shaped like wreaths and Christmas trees to delicate petit fours to cakes topped with snowmen.

Our favorite seasonal treat is the Yule Log ($27.95). You can get a chocolate cake filled with mocha buttercream or a sponge cake rolled around vanilla buttercream.

Bread & Buttercream Bakery

1709 Marsh Road, Unit B, Brandywine Hundred, 302-884-7601

Baguettes are available at Bread & Buttercream, a year-old bakery in Brandywine Hundred.

The quaint, and tiny bakery, where owner Imad Jamal bakes and serves an excellent tomato pie, crusty loaves of bread, and sweet confections like lemon ricotta cookies, celebrated its first-year anniversary in October. 

Offerings change daily. The case and counter usually features Italian and sourdough loaves, baguettes, bagels, dinner rolls and croissants.

They also have special occasion cakes, cookies and cupcakes. Savory items include spanakopita and baguettes with olives and parmesan cheese.

Chefs' Haven

1304 Old Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, 302-234-2040; www.chefshavende.com

Chef Mark Eastman has been operating Chefs' Haven, his gourmet foods shop/demonstration cooking school, now for 10 years.

Eastman has long offered some of New Castle County's best fresh baked French baguettes and French country loaves of bread. Lately, he has expanded his baked goods.

Mark Eastman bakes baguettes and French country loaves at Chefs' Haven in Hockessin.

On "Savory Saturdays" at the shop, you can find an assortment of goods such as mushroom and Swiss cheese scones, sausage bread and stratas.

Eastman also has sweet pastries such as cinnamon rolls, chocolate croissants and New York-style crumb cake.

Orders are being taken now for the holidays. Confections include pecan pie, chocolate pie, cranberry Christmas pie, custom ice cream pies, chocolate red wine cake and a ginger stout cake. Place orders before Dec. 18.

De La Coeur

1836 Lovering Ave., Wilmington, (302) 478-4344; www.delacoeurcafe.com

Alex and Gretchen Sianni are the owners of De La Coeur Cafe in Wilmington's Forty Acres.

While Alex and Gretchen Sianni, owners of De La Coeur Café et Boulangerie closed their Talleyville Shopping Center location this past September, they're still offering baked goods at their flagship Wilmington cafe.

Their seasonal treats include a Yule Log ($30) and Peppermint Patty Cake ($35). If you're looking for items to share, try the Treat box, a $22 offering that includes macarons, truffles, English toffee, pate de fruit and peppermint bark. De La Coeur's cookie tray, with 15 snacks, is $18.

They also have unbaked cinnamon buns with cream cheese icing( six for $15); an $8 cinnamon raisin loaf and baguettes for $3.75.

For more information, call (302) 478-4344 or send an email to bakery@delacoeurcafe.com.

Desserts by Dana

1212 Capitol Trail, Red Mill Square shopping center Newark, 302-721-5798

Customers can order confections like this chocolate cherry cake at Desserts by Dana in Newark.

It's been eight years since Newark pastry chef Dana Herbert won  “Cake Boss: Next Great Baker,” a TLC pastry competition program hosted by star baker Buddy Valastro.

In that time, Herbert has opened a dessert shop which features a variety of items, including Southern Lemon cake ($50) that was featured on the culinary competition series.

Dana Herbert, winner of the TV show "The Next Great Baker," owns Desserts by Dana in Newark's Red Mill Square shopping center.

Other delectable offerings include chocolate cannoli buttercream cake, a chocolate cherry cake, mudslide and creamsicle cakes and key lime tarts. 

Herbert also makes and sells customized cookies, cupcakes, chocolate covered cannoli and individual desserts like peanut butter cheesecake.

Rosenfeld's Jewish Delicatessen

18949 Coastal Highway (Del. 1), Rehoboth Beach,  302-645-1700, www.rosenfeldsjewishdeli.com

The eclairs at Rosenfeld's Jewish Deli in Rehoboth Beach are super-sized.

One of the hardest seats to score in Sussex County in 2017 was a table at Rosenfeld’s Jewish Delicatessen.

The crowds have calmed down, but the eatery, in a shopping center known as Sandpiper Plaza next to a Wawa convenience store, is still a popular gathering spot.

Go for the deli food, but don't forget the desserts.

Items not to miss? The four-layer “Sky Scraper” chocolate fudge, vanilla buttercream or carrot cake, the Jewish apple cake, strawberry-topped New York-style cheesecake, babka, black-and-white cookies or one of those ginormous, 1-pound eclairs ($8).

Serpe's Bakery

1411 Kirkwood Highway, Elsmere, 302-994-1868; www.serpesbakery.com

After a devastating Christmas Eve fire in 2016, Serpe's Bakery in Elsmere reopened in 2017.

Serpe's, an Elsmere landmark since 1952, is new and improved after a devastating Dec. 24, 2016 fire nearly destroyed the building.

If you're looking for special treats, consider their "Cookies from around the World." Varieties include Jewish Hamantaschen, German Springerle, Italian Almond Ice Box, Italian/German Lemon Moon Cookies, and German/Danish/Dutch Pfeffernusse.

Serpe's always has holiday-themed confections and we particularly like their doughnuts with Santa and snowflake themes.

Christmas orders are now being accepted. Orders to be picked up Dec. 22 must be placed by noon Dec. 20; for Dec. 23 the cut-off is noon Dec. 21; and orders for Christmas Eve must be placed by noon Dec. 22. 

Sweet Somethings Desserts

1006 N. Union St., Wilmington, 302-655-7211; www.sweetsomethingsdesserts.com

Lee Slaninko talks with a customer at Sweet Somethings.

The specialty bakery and dessert shop in Wilmington's Little Italy neighborhood has been satisfying the sweet tooth of Delaware customers since 2004. We've long been partial to their chocolate silk torte, but they also make cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookies, pies and tarts, and holiday cookies like rum balls and snickerdoodles.

A 10-inch cake feeds 12-16 people. Orders need to be placed at least 3 days ahead of time, and the bakery needs a week's notice for custom cakes.

But you can just walk-in and check out the daily selections, which include single desserts such as a pear frangipane tart or a mini key lime pie. Gluten-free patrons can get an individual molten chocolate cake.

The Station on Kings Cafe & Market

720 Kings Highway, Lewes, 302-645-0300, www.thestationlewes.com

The Station on Kings in Lewes offers some of the best pastries in the state.

Some of the best tasting pastries in the state can now be found at The Station on Kings, a snazzy Sussex County cafe and market that opened last winter.

The Station is a homewares store and garden center and offers gourmet foods. A separate marble baked goods area offers everything from doughnuts to croissants, and brioche to banana bread.  

This cute dookie box is $38 at The Station on Kings in Lewes.

They're now taking orders for holiday cookie boxes. Each $38 box contains more than a dozen cookies including a gingerbread man, nougat, cherry amaretti and eggnog and peppermint macarons. Allow 72 hours for orders to be filled. Down a cookie with an eggnog latte made with eggnog from Lewes Dairy.

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Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico