Sweetness Bake Shop: Bringing something a little different to Hialeah

My hometown of Hialeah, Florida isn’t exactly known as a gourmand's mecca. If variety is the spice of life, Hialeah would be some kind of bland, goopy porridge. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got some phenomenal Latin and Cuban restaurants (though nothing beats my Cuban mama’s home cooking, naturally;) but apart from a handful of pizza places, chains like Olive Garden, your typical fast food joints, and some (below) average Chinese dives, Hialeah doesn’t stray too far from its Hispanic roots, until now. Sweetness Bake Shop opened its Hialeah location on July 25th, 2013 in the heart of the city, and with its opening has arrived a shining beacon of delectable diversity in an otherwise homogenous restaurant scene.
As its name implies, Sweetness is most famous for its desserts. In Hialeah (I'm not sure what's hot at their first location near Sunset, FL) the Latin inspired flan cupcakes and donuts are the hot ticket items. For those not in the know, flan is a gelatin-like custard desert and Sweetness’ cupcakes and donuts are filled with the stuff. I love ‘em because they’re moist and fluffy, while their standard cupcakes are a little dry for my taste. Sweetness’ other claim to fame items are the decadent maple-bacon donuts, cupcakes, and even milkshakes, all made with real pieces of bacon. While I’ve never worked up the courage to try those particular salty-sweet concoctions, the flan cupcake more than exceeds the hype. It’s no wonder that they routinely sell out on the rare occasion they’re in stock.

Yes, they’re rare. Something that sets Sweetness apart is its rotating menu. You’llalways find a few cupcake staples like chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, and the guava flavored “guayabera,” but you’ll never know when the more ambitious flavors like Flan, Irish Car Bomb, and Mangolicious will reappear.

My favorite menu item is the aptly named G.O.A.T. cookie. The acronym stands for “Greatest Of All Time,” and as soon as you take a bite into these chocolate stuffed chocolate-chip cookies (that’s no typo; they’re chocolate-chip cookies with a chocolate ganache inside), you’ll agree that their name is no mere boast. They even incorporate them into a milkshake that I have yet to try for fear of falling into a diabetic coma I wont want to wake up from. You know in movies how they sometimes have a scene of someone coming to a revelation and they're suddenly bathed in a beam of light, complete with a chorus of angels chanting? That's what each G.O.A.T. feels like. Serious bid'ness. 

If cupcakes, donuts, and cookies are too vanilla (heh) for you, Sweetness' second display case is full of slightly more off beat dessert options. Chocolate mousse, home made marshmallows, passion fruit créme brulé (complete with pyro-torch burnt sugar), flan, cake balls, guava cheesecake, banana pudding...the list goes on and on...round out the sugary selection. But I would be remiss if I didn't take a second to talk about their macarons. Or is it macaroons? Anyway, these tiny frosting coated cookies are on the pricy side ($1.50 each for barely bite-sized) but they come in so many flavors, each better than the last, that you might quickly find yourself penniless, but still walking out with a smile on your face. 

Sweetness also has an ample variety of coffees and lattés that puts Starbucks to shame. I like to dip my G.O.A.T. in their dark mocha latté when I start to feel chocolate withdrawal. If espresso or a cortadito is more your style, Sweetness is happy to comply. Their frappés are essentially milk shakes with a caffeine kick. Let that sink in. Yeah, my mouth is watering too. Even those of us on a health kick can enjoy their extensive assortment of teas. 

Healthy you say? Oh yeah, Sweetness has that covered. Now, I don't want to get your hopes up prematurely. If you're looking for a healthy dessert, I think you might leave disappointed; Sweetness isn't in the business of skimping on the sugar or butter. However, the beauty of Sweetness isn't limited to desserts. Yes! They have a small but varied savory menu! Healthy salads and sandwiches (my favorite is the chicken caprese) are available daily. So now you don't have to feel so bad about having your third home-made Oreo. I mean, you did have a salad first, right?!

The savory menu is completed with the daily specials and soups made to order on Tuesday-Friday. Depending on what day you come in, you  might have the chance to try  sliders and fries, or a Mexican quesadilla with tortilla chips, some home-made mac n' cheese, or a comforting grilled cheese and tomato bisque. Much like their rotating cupcake menu, they keep their daily specials different week to week. So it'll always be a quesadilla on Tuesday, but the ingredients will never be the same two weeks in a row. My favorite savory item so far has been their bacon n' blue burger with real crumbly blue cheese, but nothing I've tried has let me down yet. 

Same goes for the staff. I've become something of a regular, and while they never sacrifice service to another customer, the staff has become quite friendly with  me, though that might just be their inherent cheery personalities. Never afraid to strike up a conversation about anything and everything (D, you still need to try Zelda 6!) I've found myself sticking around to chat long after my last cupcake is eaten, or sip of coffee is gone. They know their stuff too. It's hard not to want to "test drive" all of the items in the store, so the staff are always handy for a recommendation whether it's your first or fiftieth time there. I would have never tried their home-made Twinkies or "Twinkles" were it not for them, and that would make me a very sad Nanigans indeed. 

While Sweetness Hialeah might not boast the larger selection and Sunday Brunch menu (soon!) of its Sunset sister store, it's still an impressive addition to the nearly barren selection of alternative restaurant options in the city. Some might scoff that a fairly standard, if not delicious, bakery could be counted as an "alternative" restaurant. To those, I say this: one of my best friends and fellow Hialeah natives literally couldn't believe this bakery was in Hialeah of all places. I have actual photo evidence of the near existential break down my buddy had. I'm not sure if that says more about Hialeah or Sweetness, but either way, get your butt down there ASAP.