Calibella Panaderia
Columbian
164 Wyckoff Ave
(L Train: DeKalb)
Phone:
Map: click

My friend Jen first introduced me to the Calibella Bakery on Wyckoff, and I loved it so much that I keep returning there on my own, even without the aid of her perfect Spanish. The modest façade gives no intimation of the sugary confections waiting inside, but the brightly-colored interior and extra seating will entice you to stay and eat your sweets. An array of pastries and butter cookies will tempt you to eat more than your stomach's capacity, and empty pockets will be no help in lowering your caloric intake--just $2.50 will buy you an unbelievably rich hot chocolate and a bunuelo. If you can resist those, try saying no to the fried yuca, or the tamales. As if that's not enough, they also sell fresh bread and cakes, and will even cater your event.

-Erica Lies



Catania Bakery
Italian
487 Harman Ave at Cypress (2 avenues NE of Wyckoff--worth the walk)
(L Train: DeKalb)
Phone: 718-381-0346
Hours:6:30am - 8pm
Map: click

This neighborhood mainstay attracts nearby Italian families in addition to just about everyone who walks by. "You have to visit the Catania bakery," was one of the first things I heard when I moved to the area. Like a good Italian girl, I listened, and I've never been more grateful. A rotating selection of fresh breads and cream pastries greets you upon entering. Butter cookies and biscotti are baked on premises, offering a perpetual sugar high. Sold by the pound, you can take a box home to share, or eat them all yourself. The tiramisu doesn't quite rival my nonna's, but then, no one's does, and it's certainly a more-than-suitable runner-up. The real treat, though, is the cannoli. At $1.75, you'll wonder why you ever bothered to buy them in Manhattan. I like to drop in on Saturdays in summer, so I can listen to the older customers speaking Sicilian and imagine for a minute that I'm actually in Italy.

-Erica Lies

Circo's Pastry Stop
Sicilian
312 Knickerbocker Ave, at Hart St.
Phone: 718-381-7199
Hours:Tues-Sat: 8am-7pm, Sun. -6pm, Mon. 9am-4pm
Map: click
Website: circopastryshop.com

Admittedly, I have a weakness for anything with sugar in it.   But the discovery that Circo's Pastry Shop sells Sicilian marzipan may just send my indulgence over the edge.

Circo's carries all the usual Italian bakery fare, and yet more.   Choosing between the tiramisu, napoleon crèmes, and strawberry shortcakes alone will send any desert fiend into overdrive, but then there's the full size cakes, the butter cookies and biscotti, the panettone, and traditional breads for Easter (or whichever holiday your visit falls near).   But the marzipan is what sets Circo's apart.   At $15 a pound you can take home almond-extract-sugar-heaven in the vibrantly colored shapes of strawberry, fig, peach and even corn-on-the-cob.   Head to Knickerbocker and keep an eye out for the green vintage façade. If you happen to find a small woman outside babbling incoherently, having clearly eaten too much marzipan, no need to worry, it's only me.

-Erica Lies

Mexico Panaderia
238 Knickerbocker Ave (at Starr St.)
(L Train: Jefferson)
Map: click

Giant wedding cakes in the window of Mexico Panaderia will catch your eye and draw you inside toward a tremendous selection of confectionary delight.   Pinatas hanging from the ceiling seem to celebrate your feeble attempts to choose which type of cookie suits your sweet tooth.   Why choose? Buy one of each!   Many of the pastries are $.50, which means you'll have plenty of cash left to try the strawberry shortcake or cheesecake.   That is, if you have the stomach space after all those cookies. They also carry a random selection of miscellany, but there's no interior seating, so grab a drink and pull up a bench across the street in Maria Hernandez Park.

-Erica Lies

Coffee Shops