Known for the barbecue and Mexican food, you wouldn’t think about bakeries in Fort Worth, but on second thought, whether you are spending a weekend in Fort Worth or you live here, a bakery is a must-stop on your daily schedule. Fresh baked goods like Mexican flan, empanadas, tres leches cake, iced sugar cookies, black forest cake, and chocolate bourbon pecan pie are in a dessert world all your own. Let’s explore Fort Worth bakeries here in no particular order.
1. Guanajuato Bakery
3301 E Belknap Street
Guanajuato Bakery is THE place to find tres leches cakes in flavors of vanilla, chocolate, or rum. Also, you will discover flan or choco flan, layers of chocolate cake, and flan. Order a cake online, and you can pick up the dessert the next day after 10 a.m.
You can order bolillos, the most savory bread in Mexico, and teleras, the traditional torta roll, baked daily. Plus, choose cupcakes, mantecada (sweet bread), quequitos (vegan cupcakes) in vanilla or chocolate, churros (fried donut pastry) sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, and filled with caramel, and conchas (traditional round sweet bread with a crunchy topping) in chocolate or vanilla.
You’ll find nino de cajeta (rolled cake) with layers of caramel, strawberry, coconut, or pineapple, coconut. Pinguinos are chocolate cupcakes with vanilla filling, or you can order a pineapple-upside-down cake. Fior, the Mexican version of a kolache, with cream cheese and fruit filling, is delicious. Plus, you can get all kinds of donuts.
Empanadas filled with caramel, pineapple, mango, or cream cheese are plentiful. Enjoy feite, pastries filled with cream cheese or fruits, or tacos filled with strawberry, pineapple, or cream cheese (looks like a taquito).
Dozens of tasty cookies are available in peanut butter, M and M, sugar cookies with sprinkles, a cookie with pecans topped with powdered sugar, or chocolate chip cookies. I am amazed at the selection at this bakery.
2. Panaderias Don Goyo
2501 W Seminary Dr (Plus Two More Locations)
Wedding cakes and special occasion or birthday cakes are the specialties and traditional Mexican baked loaves of bread for tortas and gorditas. You will find an extensive line of ready-to-finish bakery products like cakes, pastries, muffins, and sweet baked goods to ice and sell. And they make tres leches cakes as well.
3. Esperanza’s Bakery And Cafe
2122 North Main Street And 1601 Park Place Ave
Esperanza’s Bakery and Cafe, named after Mr. and Mrs. Joe T. Garcia’s daughter, serves traditional Mexican food dishes and baked goods at two locations.
One location is a block from the historic Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican restaurant. Esperanza’s could have been my only taste-testing stop with all the Mexican bread, sweet desserts, cookies, and cakes that will delight your taste buds. The restaurant and bakery won the James Beard Foundation Award for Excellence!
I ordered a Mexican sweet bread sampling, Huevos a la Mexicana, and a tres leches cake. The Esperanza’s Tailgate platter for a family get together comes with one dozen each of tamales, beef/cheese chimichangas, potato/jalapeno flautas, chicken flautas, fajita quesadillas served with sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo, chips, and salsa.
4. Marquez Bakery And Tortilla Factory
1730 East Division
Jose Marquez started a little storefront in 1990 in east Arlington, and 30 years later, Marquez Bakery has grown from a bakery (panaderia) to a flour tortilla factory and a restaurant serving authentic Mexican food with big-hearted hospitality. You’ll find menudo, a traditional Mexican beef tripe stew, breakfast tacos, huevos rancheros, tortas, tacos, and enchiladas. You can order a dozen tamales, an enchilada dinner, a dozen fresh tortillas, and a birthday cake, all at the same place. Marquez is a great stop before the big football game at AT and T Stadium.
5. Blue Bonnet Bakery
4705 Camp Bowie Blvd
When you think, “let’s order a cake,” Blue Bonnet Bakery is the first bakery that comes to mind. It’s been around since 1934, serving its renowned signature double fudge cake, best-selling petit fours, buttery monkey bread, plus wedding cakes and cakes for birthday and anniversary.
You can order the award-winning chicken salad sandwich for lunch, or other sandwiches like ham and swiss or turkey with cranberries. You’ll find salads or combos with a half sandwich and soup, or you can order boxed lunches and party trays. The bakery specializes in fondant cakes, that smooth thick icing sculpted with bows, ribbons, or flower shapes.
Pro Tip: Blue Bonnet Bakery donates all baked goods that don’t sell to the First Street Methodist Mission in Fort Worth.
6. Swiss Pastry Shop
3936 W Vickery Blvd
My favorite cake from the Swiss Pastry Shop is the famous Black Forest Cake (The Uncake) made with three ingredients, egg whites, pure cane sugar, and crushed almonds. Owner and head baker Hans Peter Muller makes the almond meringue, gluten-free cake, then fills the crisp meringue layers with sweetened whipped cream and gourmet chocolate shavings.
Hans came on staff in 1992 after completing a degree in Bakery Science at the American Institute of Baking and a business degree. Following in his father’s footsteps, he continues the bakery his dad opened in 1972. Hans transformed it into a neighborhood cafe, featuring the burger made with Akaushi wagyu ground beef.
Try the Texas Krack Pie, a brown sugar chess pie with touches of vanilla and cinnamon, or the Metropolitan Cake made with dense chocolate pound cake and vanilla cheesecake. I love the chocolate thumbprint cookies and the iced sugar cookies.
7. J. Rae’s Bakery, Now Glitz Bakery
935 Foch Street
Nothing has changed but the name. I love the cutout iced sugar cookies in various shapes, plus regular, mini, jumbo cupcakes, and cheesecakes. Mandy and Chris Hamilton purchased the bakery in 2013. After modifying the recipes to make them their own, they changed the name to Glitz Bakery, aligning with their mission statement: “Brightening your day one bite at a time.”
8. Spiral Diner And Bakery
1314 W Magnolia Ave
Founded by Amy McNutt in 2002, out of her love for animals and the environment, Amy opened her vegan restaurant on her 21st birthday. She quickly grew the business and expanded to the W Magnolia Ave location. She serves 100 percent plant-based burgers, hot plates, hearty sandwiches, cookies, ice cream, and cakes.
Order the classic vanilla cake with layers of creamy vanilla frosting, vanilla cake or chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and drizzles of dark chocolate ganache, or chocolate cake with creamy vanilla frosting. Oh my! Get fancy cakes or cupcakes in marble, Liz lemon, coconut, funfetti, red velvet, banana spice, or chocolate mint. Or indulge in super fancy cakes like a banana split, pistachio, rocky road, or spiked mocha.
Whole pies are available like pecan, lemon chess, chocolate bourbon pecan, or blueberry. You will also find frosted sugar cookies, plus snickerdoodle, chocolate chip, or peanut butter. You will want to take home a dozen cupcakes.
9. Stir Crazy Baked Goods
1251 W Magnolia Ave
You’ll find cakes, cupcakes, custom cakes, cookies, pies, plus savory quiches, sweet rolls, tarts, scones, muffins, and bread baked in a cheerful atmosphere with love, the old-fashioned way. Almost all sweet rolls can be made vegan or gluten-free at an additional charge. The sugary baked aroma here smells like my mom’s kitchen.
10. SuzieCakes
1621 River Run
Offering from-scratch desserts, including cookies, pies, and custom layer cakes, SuzieCakes is an all-American bakery located in West Bend. Banana chocolate chip cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, old-fashioned, six-layer chocolate cake, Susie’s famous southern red velvet cake, carrot cake, classic marble cake, tropical coconut cake, or luscious lemon cake are but a few of the sweet, glorious goodies available.
11. Creme De La Creme Cake Company
6511 E Lancaster Ave
Famous for elaborate, over-the-top wedding cakes and event cakes, Creme de la Creme will set an appointment with you and invite you for a cake tasting and design meeting. You can create the wedding cake of your dreams.
Order a Simply Sweet Package, a three-tier round bridal cake, and a single-tier round groom’s cake, both iced in buttercream, with many optional upgrades, plus chocolate-dipped strawberries. Or choose birthday cupcakes in small, regular, or jumbo sizes. Jamie also offers cake truffles, chocolate caramel brownies, s’more jars, cookie sandwiches, lemon squares, plus French macarons, pies, cookies, and cake push-ups. What a delightful selection!
12. Los Pastores Panaderia
3812 E Rosedale
Since 2003, Los Pastores Panaderia bakes over 100 authentic Mexican-style loaves of bread, sweet bread, and baked goods, plus cakes, cupcakes, and donuts, all homemade at 3812 E Rosedale Street. It’s a great place to stop and get a cupcake when your sweet tooth calls.
Pro Tip
Don’t visit this exclusive invitation list of sweet desserts all in one day, or you will have glucose overwhelm. One or two a day is plenty, trust me, but take home a Black Forest Cake and a Tres Leches Cake for sure.
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