Valentine's Day at the Sweet Life Patisserie

I was gonna make a cake for Valentine's.

I was gonna make this cake.  Maybe with a nice raspberry sauce pooled on the bottom of the plate?

But plans changed.  Instead of staying in, we went out.  All of us.

We went out to the Sweet Life Patisserie.

Can I just tell you?

This town is full of bakeries.  One on every corner.

Getting to know them has been a pleasure.

Here for bread, there for cupcakes.  Here for a black and white cookie, there for a sandbox and a croissant.

But if you want to go somewhere special, somewhere...nice.  You go to the Sweet Life.

What do they do best?  They do EVERYTHING BEST.

From chocolate chip cookies to oatmeal stout gelato.

From nipples of venus to prickly pear meringues.

Bagels and cupcakes and pizza and petits fours.

You want it done right, you go to Sweet Life.

The only drawback if any, is you only go there when you have a real sweet tooth.

A REAL sweet tooth.

Otherwise it may be a bit too strong.  I had a peanut butter creme brulee there once that left me a little dizzy afterwards.

My husband ordered his go-to, the cheesecake chocolate brownie.

How can you beat that?  You can't.

I, typically, dithered.  A slice of caramel cake with chocolate ganache?  Maybe.

A rum-soaked nipple of venus and a black currant meringue?  That might be right.

I had just decided on a strawberry buttercream cupcake when the man in front of me swooped all of them.

All four that were left!  Gone.

But you know, it's Valentine's Day, and some things are written in the stars.

It was always going to be red velvet.

A big, puffy red velvet cupcake with thick cream cheese frosting.

It was even on sale!  Because Valentine's.

Benefit to treat being on sale:  second treat.

How could I resist that red velvet bear?  Isn't he adorable?

I want to hug whoever piped that face so lovingly.

Double red velvet?

I know.

Don't judge.

It's Valentine's.