"Make your own edible cookie dough bowl."



Has there ever been a more beautiful string of words assembled? Probably, but this one's pretty close.



Scoopwell's Dough Bar takes the well-known concept of assembling your own dish, but with a new medium: cookie dough. They do also offer ice cream, baked cookies and other treats.



Before I get too far into this, let's first start off by noting that, yes, the raw cookie dough is edible, as per their website.

Q: Is the dough safe to eat without baking?
A: Yes, it’s specifically made to be eaten straight from the mixing bowl. We utilize heat treated flour and pasteurized eggs to take the worry away.

Q: But I thought you couldn’t eat raw eggs?
A: Much like the heat treating process of the flour, the pasteurization process for eggs eliminates any potentially harmful bacteria so all the doughs are safe to enjoy without baking.



Once inside the playful & colorgul space, I went up to the bar to make my decisions on creating the perfect cookie dough bowl.



First step is deciding how many scoops of cookie dough you would like. then, decide on which flavors you would like to include: brownie batter, cookies and cream, chocolate chip, just dough, snickerdoodle, cake batter, peanut butter explosion, oatmeal chip, s'more, banana cream pie, Irish mint or white chocolate macadamia.

Finally, add toppings like: Rainbow Sprinkles, Chocolate Sprinkles, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Mini Reese's Pieces, Mini M&Ms; Chocolate Chips, Oreo, Kit Kat, White Chocolate Chips, Peanut Butter Chips, and Butterscotch Chips.



I mixed and matched without much strategy in mind. That may have been a mistake, because it ended up very sweet. But, I very much enjoy the concept and getting to try something a little bit different. I like cookie dough much better than actual chocolate chip cookies, so this was quite a delight.



Grade: A

Walking into this Carmel, Indiana, restaurant felt as though I was Alice walking into Wonderland.



The Cake Bake Shop is a whimsical, fairy tale-esque restaurant draped in Swarovski crystal chandeliers, grand French doors, and fiber optic glowing mushrooms planted outside.



There is a restaurant space, a bar and a bakery area, which serves several different flavors of Cake Bake's towering, signature layer cakes, plus pies, macarons and other desserts.



Kayla and I came to check out the sweets. And, there is certainly no shortage of them. They list over a dozen beautifully layered cakes, so I had to get a slice of one.



RASPBERRY CHAMPAGNE CAKE: Three layers of fluffy vanilla cake brushed with a French champagne simple syrup, filled with our Raspberry Pixie Jam and fresh raspberries. Frosted with our champagne vanilla buttercream and topped with fresh raspberries.



Talk about decadence. This was indulgence stacked on indulgence topped with indulgence. But it was done so well - just a slight sourness from the raspberries kept the sweetness in check.



Then, there was the Magic Bar.



"Bring back a childhood memory with our Magic Bars. Our European all-butter graham cracker crust is topped with sweetened condensed milk, walnuts, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and fresh coconut."



Even though chocolate chips and coconut are not necessarily in my wheelhouse, I can appreciate these flavors and textures together. Truly, a delightful experience that made me want to learn more about the owner.



"GWENDOLYN'S STORY - How The Cake Bake Shop Came To Life: Gwendolyn Rogers at 57, has had a passion for baking and cooking her entire life. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1965 she had a tough childhood. Coming from a torn family, and growing up in a dysfunctional home, she was forced to raise herself. She grew up in Sun Valley, Idaho from elementary school through high school graduation. Her first job was at 13 cleaning the movie theatre. All through school she had multiple restaurant jobs as a prep cook, busser, dishwasher, cook, waitress and hostess. She would get herself to her job before and after school on her bike even when it was snowing."



"Gwendolyn wanted to be a photograher so when she graduated she moved to San Francisco to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. She put herself through school waiting tables. She worked double shifts to pay for school but she fell so far behind in her studies and with the overwhelming costs of tuition she could not keep up. She had no choice but to leave the college program. Gwendolyn then moved to Seattle, Washington where she got a job at a modeling agency as a booker. There she met photograhers and booked models for all the local catalogs and department stores. Then with the loss of her brother and the loss of her distant Father, the only place where she found happiness, solitude and peace, was in the kitchen. In 1987 she moved to Los Angeles where she got a job at a male modeling agency working as an agent and casting director. She met her huband in 1990 and they were married in 1995."



"They moved back to Sun Valley, Idaho, (where she lived from the age of 6-18), and had three boys, all the while cooking for her family and friends. They decided to move to Indianapolis after the passing of her Father-in-Law, and the horrible event of 9/11. She was in her late 40's when they started over, moving to a new city with three little boys. She didn't know anyone, didn't want to make new friends and that is when she decided to bake full time. After baking out of their rental house for over eight years she knew it was time to find a place to bake, she had outgrown her tiny kitchen. With no money to invest into opening a retail shop, she went from bank to bank being turned down for a loan. After two years of trying to find investors, with everyone telling her no, one bank finally decided to give her the chance. They granted her a loan for $300,000 that she would have to pay back within three years. She was hoping this cake shop idea would be strong enough to keep her family from going bankrupt. She knew she did not want to have a shop in a strip mall, she wanted the homey feeling that a house would give, so she went looking for the perfect spot. She found an old dilapidated house on Carrollton Avenue around the corner from where they lived. The owner of the building agreed to let her turn it into a bakery."



"Two years later, after designing, remodeling and building, she opened her first Cake Bake Shop. She started with herself and one employee. Gwendolyn was baking all the cakes, cookies and pies, running the cash register, delivering food, washing dishes. It was a huge success from the day the doors opened. She immediately had to hire more employees. She never advertised, doing all of her own social media to announce what she was making that day which then created a line out the door. She brought all of her pillows, holiday decorations and candles from her house to create a welcoming feeling to her guests. That was such a huge sucess she continued to decorate for the seasons. In the Spring she has flowers everywhere with a full size cherry tree in the main dining room. For Christmas she has beautifully lit Christmas trees and thousands of twinkle lights. Her first shop was so busy and she had to turn guests away due to the small size of the cottage. The kitchen had 300 square feet and the restaurant could only seat 30."



"After five years and a lot of work she decided it was time to open a second location so she could accommodate more guests. Her bakery was also exploding in popularity across the country from O, The Oprah Magazine to Williams-Sonoma. Gwendolyn spent two years designing the second location, over 4,500 square feet, seats over 150, has a 2,000 square foot production kitchen just below the restaurant so everything on her menu is made on site from scratch. Her second location has a full service restaurant with a full bar. It is located in Carmel City Center in Carmel, Indiana and is booked 3-6 months in advance. She paid off her first bank loan within the first year of opening her Broad Ripple Village shop."



Grade: A

I stumbled upon Guilty Pleasures Sweet Shop while shopping in Elkins and couldn't resist peeking inside.



"We offer a tasty selection of fresh-baked Grab-n-Go seasonal goodies—muffins, breads, brownies, cookies, pepperoni rolls, and our ever-popular cake pops," according to their website.



I know it's difficult for bakeries to offer a wide variety of options because those goodies don't keep for long. So, you have to have a pretty consistent, steady customer base to have many different sweets for sale.



So, I was pleased to see quite a few varieties of treats to try. Of course, I first scoped out the pepperoni rolls. There were a few versions, but I kept it simple for my first roll. It was a decent roll. The second - with garlic - was a bit more exciting.



The Reese brownie had a thick layer of peanut butter and chopped Reeses on top. The brownie was a bit cake-like to me, so I would've liked it to be even more dense.



There were plenty of other items I want to try next time - like a muffin or cake pop.



It's a cute little shop to walk around in and see what the latest offerings are.



Have you been?



Grade: B

Sweet Tooth Treats by Jessica was set up at a recent event with all kinds of delicious temptations - from cupcakes and brownies to cookies and fudge. I opted for the Butterbeer fudge, which was dotted with little marshmallows. Talk about a sugar bomb! I only wish it was a bit more solid; I think the heat got to it and made it a bit too melty. But fun flavors and perfect treat.



Grade: B

Macarons have hit the Kanawha Valley, and folks can't get enough.



Bake My Day is a home baker who is specializing in French macarons and popping up at events all over.



Sure, there are some other bakeries in the area where you may find a flavor or two of macarons. But Bake My Day is all in on them: vanilla, strawberry, blueberry, tangerine, margarita, mimosa, mint, blue raspberry and more.



Those were just some of the summer flavors, but there are always different, creative ones added.



French macarons are notoriously difficult to make. They are technically challenging, but these are the right combo of soft and crisp. My favorites have been the fruity-boozy flavors.



Grade: A

How can you not be intrigued by a restaurant named "Fruit Daddy"? Their Facebook reads: "We serve Authentic Mexican Cravings or as we call them 'Antojitos.'"



I've mentioned previously how Arizona opened my eyes to fruity Mexican treats. And they're one of my new favorite discoveries. They have frozen, fruity treats that are refreshing but have a little bit of a kick, too. Raspados are shaved ice treats; they can come with chamoy, which gives it a spicy and salty flavor that rounds out all the sweetness.



When you have a raspado that does have the chamoy, it's then referred to as aa chamoyada. And then, if the flavor is mango, it can be called a mangonada. Got all that? I'm trying to keep up. And, that's exactly what I ordered here at Fruit Daddy. 



The mangonada has chunks of mango fruit, shaved ice, chamoy sauce, tajin, mango syrup, chili powder, spicy peanuts and a drinking straw with tamarind candy on the outside. Despite being someone who is a wimp when it comes to spicy food, this was a deliciously complex combination of flavors that was so, so tasty. 



You know how when you eat the same flavor over and over again, it loses any actual taste? You need a reprieve from that flavor to break it up, and when you go back to it, you get that good flavor again? That's how I can describe this. The fruity sweetness is delicious. But then you get a tangy bite of the tamarind, and it tingles your taste buds. Then when you go back to the. shaved ice, it's almost even sweeter. I'm obsessed with these flavors. Not spicy, just exciting enough to keep it fun.



Grade: A

Super Chunk Sweets & Treats in Scottsdale is sadly a lovely little shop that closed since I last visited. But I still want to share and document my experience.



They had a wide array of cookies, pastries and other delicious baked goods available at the counter, as well as a full menu when dining in. 



Everything from blondies and brownies to their famous "Mesquite Chocolate Chip" cookie, which is "our little 'desert' cookie is a shortbread with sandy texture and nutmeg, caramel-like flavor." It has been named the best chocolate chip cookie in Arizona from Mental Floss, the unofficial state cookie of Arizona from Phoenix New Times, and a chocolate chip cookie worth traveling for from National Geographic. 



If you know me, you know chocolate chip cookies are not really my thing, so I passed that one up. BUT, I found some other really lovely sweets. 



This beautiful little "Saguaro" dessert has raspberry aloe vera mousse, prickly pear gelee, pistachio sponger, pistachio crumble and mesquite sable cookie. It was a pleasure to taste these local flavors and fun to eat. Pretty food is just such a joy. 



In addition to all the sugar, I did get a more well-rounded brunch dish: lox bagel. One of my absolute favs. 



Lox is essentially a smoked salmon, and it came with scallion cream cheese, reed onion, capers, tomato all on an everything bagel. 



This bagel was stacked with toppings. Every inch of the bagel was covered in seeds or garlic or onion, and I couldn't have been happier with the crunch. All the toppings were super fresh and made for a salty bite that perfectly paired with t he fatty salmon and cream cheese. So tasty. 



It's no surprise this spot is a James Beard award nominee; I'm just disappointed they have since shuttered their doors, because I would certainly make a return visit. 



Have you ever been?



Grade: A