Sweets makers pull out all the stops with holiday treats that warm our hearts, tell a story or put icing on the cake in the most meaningful ways. From gourmet chocolates to Yule logs, here are some local favorites.
Robin Chocolates
600 S. Airport Road, Building B, Ste. D, Longmont
Robin Autorino creates edible beauty in her chocolate shop using fèves—meltable chocolate discs made by French chocolate company Valrhona—which are made from cacao beans mixed with cocoa butter and are tempered until they break with a characteristic snap. Autorino pours the melted chocolate into molds and fills the shells with assorted ingredients.
“The figgy pudding flavor was created after my sister went to England one winter and raved about the dessert when she returned,” she says. “Chocolate whiskey pecan pie is for my mom because when I came home for the holidays, I made her a pecan pie.”
Other flavors similarly honor family and friends: Candy cane reflects her son’s love for decorating the tree with candy canes, and cranberry vodka lime combines dried cranberries, milk chocolate ganache and cranberry pâte de fruit to represent a friend’s favorite cocktail. She also has eggnog (with freshly ground spices) and gingerbread molasses flavors.
Her six-piece holiday collection, available in the shop and online after Thanksgiving through Dec. 24, is topped with edible imagery printed on cocoa butter transfer sheets to beautify each artisanal treat.
Robin Chocolates
You Need Pie!
(Estes Park Pie Shop)
509 Big Thompson Ave., Ste. 300, Estes Park
Generations of family recipes are made to attain Rick and Valerie Thompson’s business mission: WGBP (Would Grandma Be Proud). Those recipes include breakfast, lunch, dinner and, of course, pie for dessert. The bakery’s three holiday pies include their award-winning caramel apple pecan (tart apples topped with a brown sugar oat crumble and drizzled with caramel sauce), cranberry custard (filled with bright cranberries and sweet custard) and fall harvest (a medley of apples, pears, cranberries and oranges topped with a sweet crumb topping), which Valerie says defines the season.
The pies can be purchased at the shop in Estes Park, though non-custard pies can also be shipped nationwide through goldbelly.com.
Just a Pinch Bakery
630 E. 29th St., Loveland
At Just a Pinch Bakery, the focus is kolaches, a central Texas mainstay hailing from Czech immigrants who settled in the Hill Country in the mid-to-late 1800s, says bakery owner Megan Zambas.
Kolaches have sweet or savory fillings: The meat-filled ones are technically called klobasnek, but the terminology has evolved, and the all-inclusive “kolache” is now accepted, Zambas says.
They’re popular in Texas because, “like barbecue, breakfast tacos and pecan pie, kolaches are just Texan,” she says. “Kolaches are a Texan staple at every church event, sleepover, morning meeting and if a friend is helping you move or you’re picking someone up at the airport.”
Starting this month, Just a Pinch is offering two Thanksgiving-themed kolaches. One has cranberries and sweet cream cheese, and the other is a savory, one-meal deal with roast turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato and cranberry dipping sauce. Along with pies and dinner rolls, there are three new tarts on the menu: apple with salted caramel, whipped maple pecan cream cheese and chocolate ganache with cranberry Bavarian cream. Thanksgiving preorders begin Nov. 1.
“We relish the idea that our customers, in a way, invite us into their homes during the holiday season,” Zambas says. “Our food is a part of their family’s holiday traditions.”
A kolache that’s a full meal – each bite includes roast turkey, green bean casserole, cranberry dipping sauce and sweet potato with feta and caramelized onions.
Zetta Marie’s Patisserie
1002 N. Taft Ave., Loveland
Zetta Marie Hummel decided to pursue a culinary career baking classic European desserts, but once bakers learned she was deaf, they wouldn’t take her on as an intern.
“I can’t hear the timer,” Hummel says. “In the baking business, they said you have to be hearing.”
So, teachers and family encouraged Hummel to start her own business. She currently operates a commercially licensed bakery in the basement of a Loveland residence. Her hours are by appointment only, and customers communicate and pick up their orders by texting.
Hummel’s signature desserts use French techniques with an American twist, resulting in light, not-too-sweet pastries made from high-quality ingredients, including Belgian chocolate, vanilla bean paste or pure extract, Indonesian cinnamon and pastry flour or flours made from almonds and hazelnuts.
During the holidays, Hummel showcases her Texas heritage with bourbon pecan pie, sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie as well as a mixed berry pie that’s popular year-round.
“Bourbon pecan pie is a traditional family recipe, and it’s rare to find it in Colorado,” she says.
Zetta Marie’s Patisserie can be found at Front Range farmers markets, Mollie McGee’s Holiday Craft Market at the Boulder County Fairgrounds Nov. 16-17 and the Christmas in Windsor Craft Show on Saturday, Nov. 23. Place special orders online or by text.
Many Macarons Bakery
1224 Automation Drive, Ste. E, Windsor
Sweeten your holiday theme with macarons, the delicately chewy, buttercream- or chamoy-filled French cookies that look like Oreos but arguably taste much better. Tasked with keeping her four young children occupied during the COVID-19 pandemic, Paige Fleener, co-owner of Many Macarons Bakery, taught herself how to bake these finicky cookies that come in a rainbow of colors and flavors.
The shop offers a wide selection of seasonal cookies adorned with hand-painted art—Santa, snowmen and reindeer, to name a few—but if you’re more of a Grinch, Fleener can make those too.
Customizable fillings of any flavor are possible, even Buddy the Elf’s favorites. Spaghetti, syrup, candy, marshmallow and Pop Tart flavored macarons, anyone?
Many Macarons Bakery
The Bakery
thebakerygreeley.com
918 8th Ave., Greeley
Melomakarona, a small cookie soaked in honey syrup, is an integral part of the Christmas season for Greek families. Derived from the words “meli” (honey) and “makaria,” meaning remembrance, the cookie symbolizes well-being for the new year.
The sweet may also have connections to ancient Greeks: It is thought that melomakarona were offered during celebrations of the winter solstice at the end of December, according to Achilles Bardos, owner of The Bakery.
Bardos’ traditional version uses pure olive oil shipped from Greece. Sold year-round, The Bakery’s melomakarona can be ordered by the dozen for special events. Pre-order them before Dec. 13 for pickup from Dec. 16-23.
Melomakarona (traditional honey cookies) are a Greek favorite for Christmastime. Photo by Nicolette Bardos Photography.
RISE Artisan Bread
403 5th St., Berthoud
During November, RISE Artisan Bread is known for their handmade Thanksgiving pies crafted with buttery, flaky, French-style crust and scratch-made apple or blueberry filling.
“Each pie is elegantly presented in a glass pie plate, ensuring that no one will guess it’s not homemade,” says owner and baker Annie DeCoteau. “Thanksgiving baking holds a special place in my heart.”
DeCoteau likes that her patrons can enjoy time with family during the holidays rather than being tied to the kitchen. Along with pie, her gingerbread loaf is a beloved seasonal favorite, which is available iced or un-iced.
“It’s the perfect treat to indulge in as you transition from turkey feasts to festive celebrations,” she says.
Thanksgiving pies are available for order on the RISE website until Friday, Nov. 15. Return the pie plate for $3 off your next in-person order.
La Creperie & French Bakery
2722 S. College Ave., Fort Collins
Celebrate a French-style Christmas with a bûche de Noël (or Yule log) from La Creperie & French Bakery. The beautiful dessert starts with genoise (sponge cake) soaked in Grand Marnier liqueur and simple syrup. Chocolate ganache is spread inside, then the cake is rolled up and slathered with more ganache until it resembles tree bark. Finally, it’s decorated to look like a woodland fairy garden.
This year, La Creperie is adding more flavors, including tiramisu and Frenchino, a combination of chocolate ganache, salted caramel and espresso, says Enzo Lucas, who took over the bakery as acting owner from his father, Jean Claude.
Bûche de Noël have been common Parisian holiday centerpieces since the late 1800s.
“It began as a Celtic tradition where they searched for a large tree log to burn on the shortest day of the year to celebrate the winter solstice,” Lucas says.
Burning the log then melded into Christian culture, with families attributing magical properties to the burning ashes to protect newborns and farm animals from illness. As homes with large fireplaces dwindled, innovative bakers created a delectable way to evoke the ancient folklore.
Bûche de Noël orders can be placed from the end of November until Dec. 20. They cost $7 per serving, and the size is customizable.
La Creperie & French Bakery yule log
Notchtop Bakery & Cafe
459 E. Wonderview Ave. #5, Estes Park
Notchtop Bakery & Cafe owner Nailya Khametvalieva makes a cinnamon caramel apple pie using Colorado-grown apples topped with a secret streusel family recipe. Her pies sell out quickly during the holiday season.
Khametvalieva also showcases holiday lattes, like the Red and White Hare, which incorporates Whiskey Barrel espresso, Old Elk Nooku Bourbon Cream, steamed milk and chocolate- and peppermint-infused syrups. Nooku is inspired by the Native American name for the lightning-fast white snowshoe rabbit, says manager Jayme Johnson.
Other specialty lattes to cozy up with are Notchtop’s eggnog whiskey (made with Longmont dairy eggnog, milk and Old Elk whiskey) and pistachio fudge Kahlúa (containing Kahlúa coffee liqueur and chocolate and pistachio syrups with steamed oat milk). Both are fan favorites through the winter.
Notchtop Bakery & Cafe. Photo by David Manev.
