Local Love: My Favorite Sweets in Grand Rapids

 

Am I about to dedicate an entire blog post to dessert?

Absolutely.

I LOVE SWEETS. I love eating them, I love baking them, and my self control can be questionable some days, so I try to keep nothing but Halo Top at home. But, Grand Rapids has no shortage of amazing local food, dessert included. Today I wanted to share my favorite spots for when I want a sweet treat, so if you live here or are planning a visit – take note!

 

Mokaya

Mokaya is a “chocolate boutique” that opened in 2016, right when we were moving to California. I remember hearing about it, and made a mental note to visit when we returned. Conveniently we now live less than a mile away, and are frequent visitors. They have all the delicious goodies you could ever want; truffles, pastries, cookies, brownies, tortes, beverages, ice cream – all made in house. My personal favorite are the ice cream sandwiches (sadly only available in the summer) but you MUST try them if you’re local.

They also have chocolate dinners (where each gourmet menu item involves chocolate) and chocolate making classes. They fill up quickly, but I am determined to get to a chocolate making class this year 🙂

Not only is their chocolate delicious, it’s also beautiful…check out these truffles:

 

If you’re not a chocolate person (I know some of you exist), then I’d walk a half mile over to Cherry St. and visit Le Bon Macaron.

Le Bon Macaron

Le Bon Macaron is an adorable French Cafe located right in East Hills. Grand Rapids was their first location, but they have expanded with another in Ann Arbor as well. Their macarons are the star of the show, but they also offer scones, ice cream sundaes and coffee and espresso (all sourced from local businesses). No matter when I stop in, it is always busy! My old house was one block from Le Bon, and I used to walk there ALL THE TIME. My personal favorites are: Marie Antoinette (cake batter), Creme Brulee and Lemon!

Cone Appétit

I’d like to preface this by saying I don’t love ice cream. I eat a lot of Halo Top because it fits well in my macros, but if I had to choose, I would almost always choose a baked good over ice cream. Except for Cone Appetit. It is AMAZING. Aside from taste, I love supporting Cone Appétit because it is SO much more than ice cream. Tara, the founder of  Cone Appétit, partners directly with Exodus Cry, an organization committed to ending human trafficking. A portion of every sale goes to helping, and you can learn more about it here.

Currently Cone Appétit is sold at Bridge Street Market, Martha’s Vineyard, Grand Central Market, and Le Bon Macaron.

Last, but certainly not least on my Tour de Desserts, is The Salted Cupcake.

The Salted Cupcake

They have some of the best cupcake flavors I have ever seen. I mean, just check out this menu! They’re located off Breton on 32nd St, and a complete hidden gem. Their menu changes weekly, which they post about on both their website and Facebook page. I pre-ordered cupcakes from there and brought them back to Ohio for my mom’s birthday and my family LOVED them. I like getting cupcakes for birthdays as a fun alternative to cake – that way everyone can have a flavor they prefer. 🙂

I know this doesn’t cover every delicious item available in Grand Rapids by a long shot, but these are some of my favorite places to go.

If you’re local share some of your favorites in the comments!
Happy Thursday.

xo, Maddy