From treats smothered in chocolate to coffee specials oozing with flavour, Winnipeg has several great dessert cafés.

There is nothing better after a long day of summer classes than grabbing a slice of something delectable.

Instead of dropping your cash at a Starbucks or another chain store, send some support in the way of local business owners.

Just a hop, skip and a jump away from the University of Winnipeg, you’ll find Dessert Sinsations, Baked Expectations and Kawaii Crepe bursting at the seams with great food and friendly atmosphere.

Dessert Sinsations
505 St. Mary Ave.

Right behind the Winnipeg Art Gallery is a diner filled with twinkling lights and decadent desserts.

This dessert café offers a variety of tortes, cakes, cookies, dainties, as well as entrees, appetizers, sandwiches and a bar of wines, beers, liqueurs and specialty coffees.

The coffee menu is delicious; the caramel latté I had was the perfect accompaniment to any dessert, particularly the delectable zebra brownie. They have many tea and coffee options as well as a low fat latté.

The prices are a little steep for students, and Dessert Sinsations posts that they reserve the right to charge a minimum of $8 per person. Cappuccinos, hot chocolate and lattés are $4 or more for a cup. Slices of cake are at least $8 and so are slices of pie.

Dessert Sinsations has alternative options for celiacs, vegans and diabetics. The dessert options are rotated every day so you’ll always have a fresh batch of choices.

The turnover at Sinsations is fast and efficient. You’ll be enjoying your food with your closest friends and the rest of the café too because it’s busy and loud, but the hustle and bustle can make for a great place to socialize.

Baked Expectations
161 Osborne St.

You’re not really a Winnipeger if you’ve never ventured into the Village to this sweet treat hot spot.

Baked Expectations has a full menu of cheesecake, tortes, cakes and a few other delicacies. They offer a full meal menu, alcohol, hot drinks and even some cold ones.

Baked is a little more affordable with cappuccinos, lattés and other hot drinks ringing in at $3.95 for a regular cup and $4.50 for their larger size. A slice of anything they have will never cost you more than $7.50 and they are one of the few places you can still buy a Jones soda.

If you like chocolate chip cookies and have never had the Tia Maria Torte, I encourage you to hit Osborne right now because it is melt-in-your-mouth good. The Oreo cookie cheesecake will fill any cake lover’s mouth with joy.

Vegans, celiacs and diabetics have to be careful here as there are no desserts marked especially for them.

Kawaii Crepe
201-99 Osborne St.

A newer addition to the downtown dessert-café family is Kawaii Crepe. For a place that offers only crepes to eat, they sure have a large menu.

Kawaii has a tasty menu with sweet and savoury options for the stuffing of your crepes. They have everything from a breakfast crepe, to a spinach crepe to, my favourite, the dessert crepe.

Drink options include various coffees and pops, freshly squeezed orange juice, bubble tea and a cold smoothie-like drink, the Chocolate Temptation.

Must try: the s’more crepe. Ooey gooey melted marshmallows, thick layers of Nutella and bite-sized graham crackers all wrapped up in a warm crepe will have you ordering two.

Compared to other dessert café spots, Kawaii is dirt cheap. You won’t pay over $6.95 for a crepe and many of their menu items are as low as $3.95. Drinks are all under $4.50, most are around $2.

The atmosphere at Kawaii is fun and bubbly, from the staff, the cutesy crepe names to the bright coloured decoration.

Kawaii offers a gluten-free crepe for celiacs and a multigrain one for the health nuts. You can also make your own crepe combo with any of their ingredients.

Cupcake Corner
439 Stradbrook Ave.

Who knew there could be so many different flavours of cupcakes? The bakers at Cupcake Corner sure did.

The Cupcake Corner is exactly that – a bakery filled with cupcakes in all different flavours. From chocolate cake with peanut butter icing to red velvet with vanilla icing and everything in between: mint, strawberry, coconut in mini cupcakes, regular cupcakes, giant cupcakes and specialty cakes.

Everything about this place screams flavour, from the whipped flavourful icing to the colourful sprinkles. The creativity behind the vast list of flavours is untouched and the presentation is ideal.

The Cupcake Corner is all about quality. Every single cupcake in their display case was baked fresh that morning, no exceptions.

Prices are about average for this type of sweet – regular cupcakes are $3 for one, $27 for a dozen and mini cupcakes sell for $1.75 each or $16 for a dozen.

A trick if you’re looking to save: go early in the day. They usually have day old, discount cupcakes that still taste delicious and save your wallet.

The staff at the Cupcake Corner are happy and helpful. They’re eager to make sure you have a good experience and are anything but pushy salespeople.

This cupcake nook has no seating and no drink menu. So grab a milk to go at the Shell nearby and find a place to savour your goods.

Published in Volume 65, Number 25 of The Uniter (March 31, 2011)