There’s absolutely nothing about Miami that screams the holidays. No fresh blanket of crisp, white snow on Christmas mornings, no cozying up to the fireplace, no choose-and-cut Christmas tree farms. We kid ourselves with ironically adorned palm trees and holiday drinks that have us feeling uncomfortably warm, but it’s just not the same.
But one thing we can do is eat like it’s Christmas time, so we toured some of the best bakeshops for the most indulgent specialty pastries to devour this season before those #newyearnewme resolutions kick in.
Sweet Delights Bakery
In her hard to miss bakeshop, Sweet Delights’ owner and resident baker Miss Debbie serves up some of the best key lime pie in South Florida year-round (trust us on this). Inspired by her Caribbean heritage, her key lime pies feature tropical flavor combos like guava, mamey, guanabana and tamarind. This time of year Miss Debbie serves up an eggnog key lime pie spiced with a whole buncha ground nutmeg to add a warm kick to this tart South Florida specialty.
Zak the Baker
At this point, Zak the Baker isn’t simply a bakery, they’re a Miami icon. You’ll find their sourdough loaves all over, from neighborhood farmers markets to restaurants and cafes. But there’s nothing like walking in on their table-long assortment of fresh-to-death baked goods, including their buttery croissants and homemade cookies. This season they’re serving up their own panettone – yes, that kind of underwhelming Italian fruit loaf that usually takes up too much space on your kitchen table. Take our word though – the ZTB version is amazing. They’ve got two takes on the traditional sweet loaf: one candied citrus, one chocolate hazelnut, both baked to heavenly perfection.
The Salty Donut
Since filling Miami’s woeful void of craft donuts shops, The Salty Donut has quickly become a staple. They just opened an official storefront in the Wynwood Arcade. Aside from decadent favorites like their maple bacon and guava and cheese donuts that live permanently on their menu, they’re constantly rotating rich, seasonal flavors. For the rest of December you can catch seasonal spins on their signature 24-hour raised brioche buns like eggnog creme brûlée and Christmas funfetti donuts and coquito spiked donut holes.
Fireman Derek’s
Fireman Derek first captured our hearts and stomachs with its key lime pies, and has since permanently stationed its operations in a vibrant storefront on the edge of Wynwood. It’s now dishing out locally famous favorites like his gooey crack pie and decadent guava cheesecake. This holiday season the bakeshop is featuring a peppermint candy cane pie on an oreo cookie crust, topped with chocolate ganache, a cream cheese mousse and showered with crushed candy cane pieces. Pro tip: Call ahead to reserve one of these bad babies. Pies that are limited-time only rotate three or four at a time.
Bachour Bakery + Bistro
You’ll probably recognize pastry chef Antonio Bachour and chef Henry Hané’s concept bakery by photos of their delicate and colorful entremets and petit fours flooding your Instagram feed. After opening its doors to its gorgeous high-ceiling, modern space in the heart of Brickell, Bachour Bakery + Bistro quickly rose to celeb status for its flaky and flavorful pastries almost too pretty to eat. Almost. For their first holiday season, they’ve crafted up a glossy passion fruit entremet a la Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Picture perfect and delicious to boot.
May your hearts be full and your tummies fuller.