Iowa sweets: Dutch Oven Bakery, Boone

When I was a kid, my mom would occasionally treat my sister and I with a trip to the bakery on Main Street on Saturday mornings.  We each got to pick out two doughnuts (oh, I wish I still had that kind of metabolism!), plus a pint of chocolate milk to wash it down with.  The bakery closed a few years later, but I still love a good doughnut. I try not to indulge too often anymore, especially now that doughnuts are sold at every gas station and grocery store.

But I still like to treat myself with a trip to the closest bakery, the Dutch Oven Bakery in Boone, a couple times a year. And since I'm treating myself, I choose the biggest pastry I can find, and don't feel guilty about it at all!

The Dutch Oven Bakery in downtown Boone.

My latest pick was a gorgeous rose-shaped pastry called a raspberry rosette.  It was a glazed doughnut with a raspberry jam-like coating to give it a pink color. My photo isn't the best, but it was a large doughnut, and it was worth every calorie!

Do you have a favorite bakery, or a favorite pastry?  Would love to learn about more bakeries here in Iowa or elsewhere.

Iowa eats: Cache Bake Shoppe, Clive

I was running a few errands over my lunch hour the other day, and I noticed a new bakery across the street from Living History Farms in Clive (next to Starbucks).  I couldn't help but check it out for myself. The new Cache Bake Shoppe specializes in cakes and cheesecakes.  Their take-out menu featured cheesecake bites and cake balls.  I bought a couple cake balls for an afternoon snack: a strawberry cake ball and a German chocolate cake ball.

This strawberry cake ball was so good!  I'm planning to buy a dozen of these for Valentine's Day for my sweetie.

Iowa eats: Ames Cupcake Emporium

During the holiday break, I finally took the time to visit a bakery I've been wanting to check out for the longest time -- the Ames Cupcake Emporium in downtown Ames.  I wish I would have taken a few photos of the bakery itself, because it was so retro-adorable, but I was in a hurry.  (I realized on my walk to the store that I forgot to feed the parking meter. The city of Ames loves to give out parking tickets, even on the weekends. I've discovered this the hard way.)

But back to the cupcakes, I ordered a red velvet and a white chocolate raspberry.  The cupcakes weren't as big as I thought they would be, but the frosting more than made up for it. Wow, was the frosting good!  I actually think there was more frosting than cupcake, but that was fine by me.  My favorite cupcake was the white chocolate raspberry. The red velvet cupcake was just so-so for me, but I'm not really a red velvet cake fan; I chose it for my husband, since it's one of his favorites.  Next time I stop, I'm going to try a chocolate cupcake, and maybe a vanilla one, too!

If you're ever in Ames for a ball game or event, be sure to stop downtown and check out the shops.  Downtown Ames is way nicer now than back when I went to college there.  It's actually become one of my favorite weekend shopping destinations in central Iowa.  But don't forget to pay the parking meter!