The Best Dessert Shops in Denver

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and reservations at many of the city’s best restaurants are filling up. A meal at one of top romantic eateries is a popular choice but if you’re planning to shower your special someone with gifts at home instead, a sweet treat is a must.

Do not be tempted by those heart-shaped boxes of mediocre chocolate from the grocery store when Denver is home to so many places where you can get a far better, locally-made sugar rush. From our favorite vegan bakery to a sugar laboratory run by a mad scientist, these spots are serving delicious indulgences that are perfect for any occasion, or no occasion at all.

Here are the best dessert shops for custom cakes, artisanal chocolate and more:

Cake Experts

The Cake Bar
214 East 13th Avenue
Since debuting in the summer of 2023, this Capitol Hill bakery has become a favorite for vegans — and sweets lovers in general. All of the Capitol Hill bakery’s treats are plant-based, nut-free, vegan and certified kosher, although this chocolate-loving non-vegan can confirm that its goodies are just straight-up delicious. Macarons, cookies, cupcakes and cake cups (yes, those are two different things) are available in-store, but the standout is the customizable cakes that come in three sizes, with a variety of options for flavoring, frosting and decorations.

D Bar
7302 East 29th Avenue
While D Bar closed its longtime location in Uptown in 2024, it lives on in Central Park where it operates as a bakery and cafe. Its menu boasts pastries galore, offering both sweet and savory treats, along with beautifully crafted cakes and cupcakes available to order in advance. Valentine’s pre-orders are open now and available for pickup between February 12-14.

Eternal Flavors Bakery
5600 West Dartmouth Avenue
The Market in Larimer Square is one of the most-missed restaurants in the city, but you can still enjoy one of its signature items at this spot run by its former longtime baker, Melchor Ocampo. The fruit-filled zucchini and cream-cheese frosted Spring Fling cake is just one of many varieties on offer from this family-owned bakery where you can pre-order full cakes or pop in for a hefty slice anytime.

Poulette Bakeshop
19585 Hess Road, Parker
Husband and wife team Alen Ramos and Carolyn Nugent opened Poulette Bakeshop in Parker in late 2021 and have racked up some serious accolades since, including being named a James Beard semifinalist three times (this year, for Outstanding Bakery) well as landing on the New York Times list of best bakeries in the country in December 2024.  A trip to Parker is well worth the drive for a taste of the impressive sweet and savory baked goods available here, from macarons and pastries to teacakes. Full cakes, pastry packs and macaron packs are available for pre-order online as well. The team is also working to open Poulette 2.0, a bigger location at the corner of Main Street and South Pine Drive in Parker that is set to replace the original in the next couple of months.

Top Picks for Chocolate

Colorado Cocoa Pod
Online and pop-ups
This artisan chocolate bonbon business that Liane Pensack-Rinehart started in 2019 offers hand-painted bonbons with an Asian-inspired flair. Drawing from her half-Chinese, half-Japanese background, Pensack-Rinehart offers goodies in galactic-themed gift boxes, such as the Zodiac Animal Bonbon Box which features twelve flavors, one for each Chinese zodiac animal. Flavors include raspberry matcha (the snake), cinnamon cayenne (the rooster), and toasted coconut (the rabbit). Though the business does not have a brick-and-mortar location, it is active at pop-ups and festivals around the city, including many dates leading up to Valentine’s Day. Check out its full upcoming schedule on Instagram.

Alice + Kate
572 Castle Pines Parkway, Castle Pines
French macarons, chocolate bonbons, caramels and a variety of breads and pastries are on offer at this boutique bakery and chocolate shop. The venture was started by Gretchen Harrison in the spring of 2024 and is named after her grandmother, Kate, and her aunt, Alice. Harrison put the work in to understand the art and science of chocolate making, perfecting her glossy, colorful bonbons which are available online or in-store. Between the rotating baked goodies, the chocolates, and small batch caramels available in flavors like apple cider, toasted marshmallow and pumpkin spice, Alice + Kate’s provides tasty artisan treats perfect for gifting.

Bibamba Artisan Chocolate
5505 West 20th Avenue, Edgewater
This award-winning, ethics-focused chocolate shop from husband and wife Mara and Patrick Tcheunou sources its chocolate directly from the couple’s own cocoa farm in Cameroon. At the start of 2024, Bibamba opened a storefront in Edgewater Public Market where it sells specialty items such as bonbons, truffles, peppermint bark, and its best-seller, pate au chocolate, a chocolate, hazelnut and almond spread that is similar to Nutella sans dairy and palm oil.

Miette et Chocolat
2501 Dallas Street, Aurora
Pastry chef David Lewis and Argentine chocolatier Gonzalo Jimenez are behind this Stanley Marketplace stall that offers macarons, pastries, chocolate spreads, cakes and vibrantly colored bonbons with creative flavor combinations. These treats have an artistic flair and while anything out of the case would make a great gift, you can also go big by commissioning a custom chocolate sculpture crafted by Jimenez.

Other Sweet Treats

Beard Papas
1699 South Colorado Boulevard
If you haven’t already tried these cream puffs with a global cult following, Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion to nab a box of the light, fluffy treats. The chain started in 1999 as a local bakery in Japan and debuted in Denver in 2021. Founder Yuji Hirota is known as “Beard Papa” because of his Santa-esque fluffy white beard, hence the name and lovable bearded logo. The puffs are made fresh every morning and the custard filling is also made in-house. The puffs come in various “shell” options including original, green tea, s’mores and Oreo cookie crumble. Filling flavor options include vanilla, chocolate, green tea, ube, horchata and more.

The Inventing Room
4433 West 29th Avenue
Ian Kleinman is Denver’s very own Willy Wonka and yes, you can visit his “factory.” Instead of operating as a traditional retail shop, the Inventing Room offers interactive demonstrations that include plenty of sugary bites along the way as the chef creates desserts with liquid nitrogen, glow-in-the-dark treats and more. With a background in fine dining and a fascination with the science of gastronomy, Kleinman and his wife, Stacey, are always cooking up themed events to keep their sugary experiments fresh. Tickets are just $20 and available online.

Sweet Sweetz
2325 East 28th Avenue
This family-owned dessert shop is the passion project of Lodene “Sweet Sweetz” Turner, her daughter, Erin, and her sister, Bobby. The concept was spearheaded by Turner’s desire to open a friendly neighborhood ice cream shop, and soon, Bobby’s homemade pies and cobblers were added to the menu. The shop opened in 2019 and has been a community hub for sweet treats made with love ever since. The pies come in a wide variety of flavors including apple, cherry, blueberry, pecan and Oreo cream. Other take-home items include Rice Krispies treats, banana pudding, brownies and cookies. The shop also takes flavor requests for its pies and cobblers.