Bakery Nouveau
CAPITOL HILL AND WEST SEATTLE
If the words Coupe du Monde de Boulangerie mean anything to you, run, don’t walk to Bakery Nouveau, the beloved bakery owned and operated by William and Heather Leaman. In 2005 William captained the Bread Bakers Guild Team USA and won the Coupe du Monde de Boulangerie, aka the Bakery World Cup in Paris. Eating his twice-baked almond croissant is akin to playing soccer with Lionel Messi. To this day Bakery Nouveau continues to win awards for reliably impeccable macarons, cakes, tarts, and breads, but don’t sleep on the savory side of the pastry case: The ratatouille sandwich is perfection. (MEGAN SELING)
Cupcake Royale
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
A cupcake institution since 2003, you can now find four locations around Seattle, all serving giant, made-from-scratch cupcakes, including those that are regularly available (like tiramisu, lemon drop, lavender, chocolate, and vanilla with a variety of frosting flavors— salted caramel is dreamy), and limited seasonal offerings (an assortment of Pride-related flavors are available through June). Cupcake Royale also serves its own hand-churned ice cream, like the red velvet cupcake ice cream. There are gluten-free and vegan options, too, and they taste closer to the real thing than you might imagine. (LEILANI POLK)
Deep Sea Sugar and Salt
GEORGETOWN
The line for Georgetown’s cutest cake shop window, Deep Sea Sugar and Salt, can stretch down the block on sunny weekends. Go there anyway. Charlie Dunmire’s cake empire lives up to the hype, with a rotating menu of about a dozen different cakes and cupcakes on any given day, and there’s not a single dud in the bunch. One surprising mainstay, and the cake you must try at least once, is the London Fog. The six-layer tower is stacked with intriguing components: Earl Grey cake, honey and Earl Grey syrup, bergamot mascarpone cream, and tangy cream cheese frosting. It sounds like it would be a flowery, herbal delight, right? Somehow, thanks to Dumire’s wizardry, the combination of flavors surpasses the expectations of each individual part, and the gray, unassuming cake tastes like sophisticated Froot Loops. A bright, happy little party of flavor you’d never see coming. Surprise! (MEGAN SELING)
Fran’s Chocolates
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
The melt-in-your-mouth smoked-salt caramels that Fran’s is known for are every bit as delicious as Barack Obama has claimed. The family-owned confectionery is nationally recognized and is named for the woman who’s owned and operated it since 1982, Fran Bigelow (she was inducted into the Specialty Food Association’s Hall of Fame in 2018). While you can order whatever your heart desires online, we suggest picking up your caramels, truffles, gold bars, or chocolate-covered fruits and nuts at any one of the four boutique shops. (LEILANI POLK)
Fuji Bakery
INTERBAY AND CHINATOWN-INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT
Styling themselves as a Japanese French pastry shop, Fuji Bakery is like half dessert shop and half jewelry boutique, so gorgeous are their dainty treasures, which are made with special European butter and their own yeast. Offerings change frequently, but you can depend on Fuji’s perfect croissants, either in buttery classic mode or various flavors (mango, almond, strawberry, etc.), along with its ruby red Danish, a square of puff pastry filled with pastry cream and crowned with a few gems of red grapefruit. The clafoutis (custard cake with raspberries or blueberries baked in) is spot-on, très Francais. They have a multitude of pleasantly sweet/bitter green-tea-flavored offerings (panna cotta, Danish, and uji, described as “matcha opera cake”), and the abstract expressionist-inspired Zen (a thick cylinder of green-tea mousse filled with hojicha tea cream, topped with chocolate flakes, and served on a sesame cookie). (MEG VAN HUYGEN)
Full Tilt Ice Cream
WHITE CENTER AND COLUMBIA CITY
Full Tilt Ice Cream is more than just a scoop shop. Both locations offer pinball, arcade games, and an impressive selection of beer, and the White Center store regularly hosts live music and art shows. Owners Justin Cline and Ann Magyar aren’t afraid to experiment with ingredients, either. Just this spring they’ve had Arabic coffee with cardamon, lemon marshmallow, salted popcorn, and Oreo RumChata. They sometimes partner with local bands and labels for music inspired mixes, too, including Sub Pop’s Grunge (chocolate, coffee, and caramel) and Mudhoney (honey, cinnamon, and fudge). (MEGAN SELING)
General Porpoise
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
I’m not sure what manner of witchcraft James Beard Award–winning chef Renee Erickson employs to make doughnuts like this, but whatever it is, it’s earned General Porpoise a spot on Thrillist’s list of the best doughnuts in America. The dough is magically puffy, pillowy, and yeasty, with just enough toothsome chew to hold its own against luscious cream fillings and a light dusting of crunchy sugar. The lemon-curd flavor is loud, tart, and bracing, a welcome shout of lemon sunshine, and there’s always a few rotating seasonal flavors, from rhubarb to rose cream to date shake. Like all Erickson ventures, it’s warm, charming, generous, and very Seattle. (JULIANNE BELL)
Molly Moon’s
Homemade Ice Cream
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
The only thing better than walking by any of Molly Moon’s nine locations and filling your lungs with the aroma of griddle-baked waffle cones is actually ducking in and ordering one filled with the ice cream flavor of your choice. Whether it’s one of the 10 that are always on the menu (Stumptown coffee, melted chocolate, maple walnut, and salted caramel among them), or one of their seasonal offerings (right now, it’s raspberry crisp, citrus sorbet, matcha strawberry, and vegan blueberry pie), you pretty much can’t go wrong. (LEILANI POLK)
Find more of our favorite dessert destinations at thestranger.com/food.