Bliss Old Market Bakery

With delicious creations and sweet customer service, Bliss Bakery is best known for its unique cupcakes in flavors like blueberry chocolate and “car bomb”—Guinness chocolate cake filled with whiskey ganache and topped with Irish cream frosting. The cupcakes ($2.50 apiece) are miniature works of art with towering ribbons and swirls of icing. On a hot summer day, the ginger-peach cupcake was cold, fruity and nearly refreshing with spiced ginger cake, cream cheese frosting and peach puree.

"Caketinis" (mini balls of cake dipped in chocolate) sit in champagne glasses in the cold case near the counter, but at $1.50 each, seem a bit expensive for their two-bite size. Other goodies include cinnamon and caramel pecan rolls ($2.75) and scones ($2.25). The bakers at Bliss are friendly and chatty, and the shop offers free Wi-Fi and a seasonal pet-friendly patio.

Bliss recently consolidated with Aroma's Coffeehouse under the ownership of baker-entrepreneur Autumn Pruitt; they share a common entrance inside a renovated brick building. Bliss maintains normal bakery hours from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., making it a convenient stop for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Closed Sundays.