There’s a certain fondness of baked goods that extends far beyond the palate or penchant for gluten. It’s the special occasion cake your family has been buying from the same beloved bakery year after year. It’s the first bite of that light-as-a-feather pastry that provides comfort after a bad day. It’s the sacred family recipe for yeast rolls that’s too good not to share with the world. Many memories are tied to baked goods, making them more than just an indulgence but an act of love, made to be shared among the sweetest people in our lives.
Below, we’ve whipped up a list of some of our favorite bakeries in Coastal Virginia: a baker’s dozen of all-around classic confectioneries, cupcakes and doughnuts galore, out-of-this-world international treats, bread that’s totally worth the carb intake, spots to grab a confection plus a cup of joe, iconic locations we love and specialties like cookies, macarons and nothing but the best bundt cakes—all worth sinking your sweet teeth into.
Don’t worry, gluten-intolerant guys and gals—we’ve got you covered, too. Visit here for some great gluten-free options that won’t have you asking, Where’s the grain?
A Baker's Dozen of Our Favorite Sweet Shops
Blackbird Bakery
This dollop of a shop tucked away a few steps off of Colonial Williamsburg’s bustling Merchants Square is a picture book bakery sprung to life. It belongs to David Everett’s empire, so don’t be surprised by slices of Death by Chocolate (Blackbird adjoins The Trellis, and you can order a whole DbC from an array of special occasion cakes) plus supersized sticky buns, hot milk cake (WASPy tres leches), croissants, tarts and daily breads (batards, boules, brioche—half price after 5 p.m.). Buttery rich chocolate chip cookies are anything but cookie-cutter; they have a hand-hewn charm, and the kindly clerk will let you pick the one you want along the chewy-crispy spectrum. Grab a cup of illy coffee to sip at the small windowsill counter, but it’s the cinder toffee (a puffed honeycomb of butter toffee dipped in dark chocolate; a better Butterfinger if you will) you’ll really crow about. 407 W. Duke of Gloucester St., Williamsburg. 757-903-4888. BlackBirdBakeryWilliamsburgVa.com
—MM
Photo by Ilsy Serrano
Chocollage
When Pat Marshall and Lee Anne Horan moved their bakery-cafe across the street three years ago, the larger, brighter space offered more picture windows for observing the cityscape while enjoying a light breakfast or lunch at a quaint wrought iron table, picking up a special occasion cake or choosing from a panoply of nostalgia-laced bar cookies—lemon, rocky road, SKOR, peanut butter and raspberry. But the best view is through an interior arched window looking into the baking bastion where the mother-daughter team and their crew create these sweets as well as decadent peanut butter bombs (chocolate mousse enveloping peanut butter mousse atop a brownie, all coated in ganache), muffins, cream cheese brownies, cupcakes, Hello Dollies, Ho Hos (an improved take on Hostess’), and more edible Americana. They hint at the fact that Pat raised a half dozen children, so it’s no wonder that an old-fashioned, homey goodness pervades Chocollage. 200 College Pl., Norfolk. 757-533-5335. Facebook.com/ChocollageBakery
—MM
Scratch Bakery
Need a cake? Make it from Scratch. Known for its custom-made cakes, jumbo cookies, cupcakes and homemade desserts, Scratch Bakery started as a home-based business, run by Lashonda Sanford, that eventually opened shop in Port Warwick in 2011. Word spread quickly about the quality of her baked goods, and she expanded operations by moving into a larger space and adding a cupcake food truck. More recently, she opened a second location in Phoebus. Both shops offer a selection of mouthwatering favorites such as chocolate mousse cups, cheesecakes, cobblers, decorated short bread, cake pops, lemon bars and gooey bars, as well as chicken pot pies, chicken salad sandwiches and soups. 36 Mellen St., Hampton. 757-224-8430. 4181 William Styron Square, Newport News. 757-833-0965. ItsMadeFromScratch.com
—BB
Yummaries Bakery
Long before there was a Tiffany blue storefront or shiny awards, Yummaries served a heartfelt array of sweets to Smithfield residents. The mother-daughter team, Kelly and Marie Payne, expanded their business last year from a sprawling stand at the farmers’ market to a sunny, high-ceilinged shop on historic Main Street. Since 2005, Yummaries has endeared itself to visitors with a host of carefully made baked goods. Quirky specialties like “cranberry hootycreek cookies” and bright pink, pig-shaped sugar cookies fill the case, while an honor guard of decadent layer cakes lines the long countertop. Aromas of butter, sugar, flour and spice wafts from the open kitchen to the wooden tables where customers are encouraged to sit and enjoy both their dessert and the peace of a space where the cares of life can wait—at least ’til you’ve finished your muffin. 213 Main St., Smithfield. 757-371-5421. Yummaries.com
—RH
Flour Child Bakery
“It’s her fault I’m doing this,” cracks the presciently named Cathy Baker, setting out small batches of scratch-made mini pies (coconut cream, key lime), cookies (loaded oatmeal, red velvet) and jumbo cupcakes (Italian cream, chocolate salted caramel) while referencing her daughter/partner Cassie Walker, lover of the tie-dye era that inspired Flour Child. “She’s the main baker. I do the frosting.” Mom may be icing on the cake, but she nurtured Cassie’s entrepreneurial streak, toting her along at an early age to county fairs to help in the family’s mobile festival-food business (think corn dogs). Since 2010 the pair have been dealing in sugar highs via everything from custom wedding cakes to cake pops (“psychedelic-ious” flavors like piña colada, mint and fresh strawberry), from fudge brownies and fresh fruit pies to bubblegum-flavored meringues (plus other gluten-free goodies). With a hippie-dippie theme and groovy soundtrack, this place is a peace of cake. 1716 Pleasure House Rd., #104, Virginia Beach. 757-464-1455. ILoveFlourChildBakery.com
—MM
Heritage Amish Bake Shoppe
Short of driving to rural Pennsylvania or possessing an Amish grandmother of your own, Heritage Bake Shoppe is the choicest option when craving a dessert that is, in the best way, undeniably homemade. Built into a spacious log cabin beside the Virginia Beach Farmers Market, Heritage houses a cafe, deli, bulk food store and a capacious bakery. Giant molasses, peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies can be bought by the dozen and half-dozen. Pies—regular sized and miniature—are handed over, often still warm, to the lucky customer who times their visit correctly. But the real stand-outs here are the colossal cinnamon rolls that Heritage offers at an alarmingly low price: angel-soft dough caught in a cinnamon-sugar spiral, smeared lavishly with vanilla frosting. Buy a single roll if you’re self-controlled or a pan of six if you’re the rest of us. 3600 Dam Neck Rd., Virginia Beach. 757-716-3772.
—RH
Bergey’s Breadbasket
A freewheeling drive down Chesapeake’s backcountry roads leads you to the homegrown and homestyle fixings at Bergey’s Breadbasket. The family-owned farmstead has handed over long-lived heirloom recipes spanning generations. With humble roots when it was established as Bergey’s Dairy Farm during the Great Depression, the Bergeys delivered bottles from door-to-door as milkmen before eventually settling down, preserving the family farm and opening the Breadbasket on the plot in 2006. It’s lauded by locals as a nook for freshly baked goods (biscuits, breads, cookies, pies); creamery with milkshakes and ice cream; deli dishing out barbecue, sandwiches and chicken potpie; and petting zoo with goats, pigs and cows. Try tasty tidbits and made-from-scratch batches of glazed cinnamon rolls coated with pecans and raisins or their angel biscuits that are warm, fluffy and heavenly divine. 2207 Mt. Pleasant Rd., Chesapeake. 757-546-9225. BergeysBreadbasket.com
—RM
Silver Spoon Bakery
Silver Spoon Bakery has remained a beloved confectionery destination since its founding in 2005 and has been recognized with numerous accolades for its stylishly designed cakes and assortment of tasty desserts. Portsmouth native C.C. Martinez, owner and head baker, offers an extensive list of customizable creations to her clients, including an array of cake flavors from the classic marble frosted with traditional buttercream to the indulgent German Chocolate and tropical Pineapple Upside Down. These delectable cakes can also be infused with a variety of fruity and creamy fillings or draped in sugary fondant. In house, the bakery’s display cases are brimming with cupcakes, pies, cannolis, cookies, chocolate eclairs, scones, cinnamon buns and Silver Spoon’s signature Cake Shakes that are sure to satisfy even the most serious sweet tooth. 4715 Portsmouth Blvd., Portsmouth. 757-673-8431. SilverSpoonVA.com
—GS
Williams O’Delicious
Located within walking distance from the new E-Commerce Center of Hampton, Williams O’Delicious is easy to miss—identified only with a sign that says “Bakery.” Featuring Japanese-style baking from owner Naoko Sugiyama-Williams, the shop is small but packed with lots of delicious options. There is only one table for customers, so it’s more of a carry-out kind of place, but don’t let that stop you from boxing up their exceptional confections. The idea for the bakery came when Sugiyama-Williams heard from Japanese and European friends that they really missed the taste of pastries and baked good they were accustomed to. After offering cakes and other hand-held desserts at gatherings, people started asking her to make more. Demand got so great, she decided to open a shop and make it a full-time labor of love. Todd Center, 1814 Todds Lane, Suite E, Hampton. 757-262-1013 or 757-814-5179. LDomatt.WixSite.com/Williams-ODelicious
—BB
Indulge Bakery and Bistro
What do you do when you’re in the mood for something sweet, but you’re also really hungry and need to stock up on something more substantial? Easy. Head to Historic Hilton Village and drop by Indulge Bakery and Bistro. Featuring a European-style atmosphere, you can literally have your (carrot) cake and eat it, too. Breakfast is served until 11 a.m. and features their famous AM Kickstarter—a split buttermilk biscuit stuffed with sautéed spinach, an over-easy egg, Swiss cheese and topped with Sriracha. Brunch is served all day, which is awesome if you’re looking for a variety of quiches or bagels with lox. Lunch offers sandwiches, salads and soup. Then of course, there’s the countertop treats ranging from cake rolls and croissants to chocolate espresso clouds. 10359 Warwick Blvd., Newport News. 757-594-1399. IndulgeBakeryAndBistro.com
—BB
Sugar Plum Bakery
As if a sugary selection of scrumptious confections—cupcakes, pastries and pies, oh my!—wasn't sweet enough, what's even more luscious is this well-known bakery's purpose. Sugar Plum serves the needs of people with disabilities through employment and education. Stop here for satisfaction in helping a good cause, and you will become a repeat customer addicted to both their mission and a vast assortment of feel-good treats, particularly signature cakes like Bananarama, Lemon Zip Razzamatazz and our favorite—Mozart, skillfully composed of three layers of yellow cake split with raspberry filling and Bavarian cream, iced with vanilla butter cream and finished with melted chocolate fudge. It is truly music to your mouth. 1353 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach. 757-422-3919. SugarPlumBakery.org
—MMS
Bliss Bakery
If you confess to never meeting a baked good you can pass up, Bliss is your place. This full-service bakery's always-hot ovens rise to the challenge, producing an impressive variety of traditional scratch items—everything from cream horns to crumb cake, whoopie pies to bow ties—and bonus bakery delights like bagels and specialty sammies cradled by fresh-baked breads. Order The Hokie—roasted turkey, cranberry pecan sauce, bacon, lettuce and tomato—and eat at welcoming café tables while considering one of their incredible custom cakes for your next occasion. If you imagine it, they can create it … and it will taste good too. 1401 Lynnhaven Parkway A, Virginia Beach. 757-368-2253. TheBlissBakery.com
—MMS
Carrot Tree Kitchens
It’s true that carrots don’t grow on trees, but you’ll wish that carrot cake did after one bite of the famous confection found at this Peninsula-based bakery. Three luscious layers of moist carrot cake with rich cream cheese frosting piped between each layer—who would have ever thought that a cake created with vegetables could be so darn decadent? But that’s not the only sweet they’ve got up their sleeve. You’ll also find an assortment of cupcakes, petit fours, tarts, mousse cakes, brownies and more, all beaming from behind a glass case. 1367 Colonial Parkway Dr., Jamestown. 757-229-1170. 1303 Jamestown Rd., Williamsburg. 757-229-0957. 323 Water St., Yorktown. 757-988-1999. CarrotTreeKitchens.com
—AB
Specialty
Photo by Ilsy Serrano
The Mack Momma of Macarons
Hummingbird Macarons & Desserts
An antidote to cupcake fever, Hummingbird turns a Freemason corner into a French quarter with its precious, rainbow-hued mini-meringue sandwiches. While it offers delectable diversions including tarts, drinking chocolates and ice cream in season, macarons are the stars in curated, daily-rotating flavors—blueberry violet, red velvet, Earl Grey, chipotle—each as pretty as cloissoné. Take them home, give as gifts, or enjoy right there, unrepentantly scarfing them down with the freneticism of their namesake. 501 Botetourt St., Norfolk. 757-622-7757. HummingbirdMacarons.com
—MM
I Like Big Bundts and I Cannot Lie
Nothing Bundt Cakes
Nothing Bundt Cakes offers 10 amazing Bundt flavors and 40 unique cake designs. Need a unique gift? Try the Bundtlet Towers, gift-wrapped in cellophane and available with one, two or three stacked Bundlets (miniature Bundt cakes). Or pick up a dozen Bundtinis—bite-sized Bundt cakes that rival any cupcake. 12080 Jefferson Ave., Building 900, Suite 935, Newport News. 757-249-3536. 1860 Laskin Rd., Suite 130, Virginia Beach. 757-395-4021. NothingBundtCakes.com
—BB
Cookie Monster Would Approve
Cookie Text
When you have a sweet message to get across, there’s no better way than sending your sentiments in the form of a cookie. When owner Jeanne Fiocca began baking and decorating cakes for her children, she unleashed a creative side of herself and decided to turn that passion into an occupation. Inside her Yorktown kitchen Fiocca bakes larger-than-life cookie cakes using all-natural whole milk, fresh butter, whole eggs and real sugar in flavors of brownie, chocolate chip, oatmeal chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, sugar and peanut butter. Once these crumbly confections come out of the over, she decorates the cookies to feature whatever message or image her clients request. And when you simply don’t have anything to say, bags of CookieBites, bite-sized cookie cake pieces iced buttercream or cream cheese frosting, will speak a thousand words. 108 Pungo Turn, Yorktown. CookieText.com
—AB
Satisfaction by the Slice
The Rustic Tart
“Pie: A baked dish of fruit, custard, meat, veggies, or whatever you can imagine! Sometimes with a top and bottom pastry … sometimes not.” This sweet definition displayed on the wall of Downtown Norfolk’s The Rustic Tart provides patrons a general outlook of what to expect at this pie-centric shop—but you’re bound to find a few surprises, too. There’s tarts crammed with blackberries and blueberries, sweet and savory hand pies, classics like apple, chocolate and lemon meringue and out-of-the-box offerings like Peanut Butter Passion, Black & Blue Piecasso and Lemon Lavender Ice Cream Tart, making the selection process anything but easy as pie. 323 Granby St., Norfolk. 757-333-3867. Facebook.com/TheRusticTart
—AB
Creative Cupcakes
Carolina Cupcakery
Two types of cupcake eaters exist: those who love the frosting and those who love the cake. Here, the frosting-cake ratio is perfect. Besides delicious classics, allergy-aware cupcakes are made in a separate kitchen beside the parent bakery on Battlefield Boulevard. With 325 varieties and menus that change by season, cupcake connoisseurs will always have a new treat to try. 1200 N. Battlefield Blvd. #106, Chesapeake. 1401 Greenbrier Pkwy., Chesapeake. 333 Waterside Dr., Norfolk. CarolinaCupcakery.com
—RH
Ksquared Cupcakes
Featured on Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars,” this Norfolk cupcakery goes beyond classic buttercream treats with towering creations of fresh fruit, coconut flakes, chopped nuts, crushed graham crackers and saccharine drizzles of chocolate and caramel. Owner Winter Arif serves over 30 flavors of cupcakes and beautifully decorated tier cakes with special selections changing daily. Consistently topping the flavor charts is Cinnamon Coconut, one of Ksquared’s famous Palate Shockers. 5720 Sellger Dr., Norfolk. 757-515-9940. KsquaredCupcakes.com
—GS
Twisted Sisters Cupcakes & Sugar Shack Café
Taking Virginia Beach by storm are Twisted Sisters Exceptional Eight cupcakes and Tasty Ten cookies. The wildly popular confections are available in both the brick-and-mortar sugar shack or from the curbside window of the bright pink Cupcake Truck. Amid an array of cherished flavors is the whimsical Unicorn cupcake, a funfetti creation topped with a dollop of cotton candy buttercream encrusted with rainbow sugar crystals. Its magical garnish includes a swirl of rainbow buttercream and a sparking unicorn horn. 2724 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach. 757-675-3966. TwistedSistersCupcakes.com
—GS
Just Cupcakes
There’s something truly special about Carla Hesseltine’s method of making gourmet cupcakes. Maybe it’s the quality ingredients, like Madagascar bourbon vanilla or Valrhona chocolate that goes into the deliciously dainty cakes. Perhaps it’s the ethereal buttercream icing perfectly poised on top. Or could it be the whimsical designs that make them Instagram-worthy and then some? At some point, we stop wondering what makes them so flawless and just enjoy them for the individual bites of exquisiteness that they are. 340 West 22nd St., Norfolk. 757-625-1000. 261 Town Center Dr., Virginia Beach. 757-671-2020. JustCupcakes.net
—AB
Extraordinary Cupcakes
Featuring their daily lineup of cupcakes with names like The Extraordinary, Wicked Chocolate, Fantastic Vanilla Flip, Uncommon Carrot, Marvelous Madagascar and Remarkable Red Velvet, Extraordinary (XO for short) Cupcakes doesn’t want their menu to get “stale,” so they offer daily, monthly and seasonal specials, as well. With offerings like Sinfully Salted Caramel and Over-the-Top Maple Bacon, you know you can’t go wrong. 1220 Richmond Rd., Williamsburg. 757-645-2122. ExtraordinaryCupcakes.com
—BB
Photo by Ryan Miller
Urban Cupcakes & More
Their cupcakes are sculpted with frosting and novelty toppings for decorative presentations, as they’re soft, rich, creamy and pleasantly sweet by the bite. This Hilltop spot bakes irresistible gourmet goodies that go well as dainty desserts or sumptuous snacks. Indulge in a cannoli cupcake coated with vanilla and chocolate ganache, ricotta cheese icing and center, bedazzled with chocolate chips and crowned with a miniature cannoli. 616 Hilltop West Shopping Center, Virginia Beach. 757-222-0213. UrbanCupcakesVa.com
—RM
See more bakeries in Flour Power Part II.
Barrett Baker
Angela Blue
Angela Blue has served as editor-in-chief for multiple lifestyle publications and copy editor for several cultural institutions and nonprofits. A seasoned writer, she enjoys sharing stories that spark curiosity and build connections. Angela lives in Norfolk with her husband and two kids and enjoys reading, running, cooking, and spending time on the Lafayette River.
Rachel Heffington
Marisa Marsey
Marisa Marsey is a food, beverage and travel writer whose awards include 1st place Food Writing from the Virginia Press Association. A Johnson & Wales University representative, she has sipped Château d'Yquem '75 with Jean-Louis Palladin, sherpa-ed for Edna Lewis and savored interviews with Wolfgang Puck and Patrick O’Connell.
Ryan Miller
Grace Silipigni
Grace Silipigni is an elementary school Spanish immersion teacher based in Virginia Beach and a regular contributor to Coastal Virginia Magazine, covering a wide range of topics such as health and wellness, education and learning, food and drink, happenings and events, travel and getaways and more.
Melissa M. Stewart
