The 5 Best Places to Get a Cake in Santa Fe
Historic Santa Fe, New Mexico, which sits in the Sangre de Cristo foothills, was founded as a Spanish colony in 1610 and is filled with Pueblo-style buildings and houses that harken back to the colony’s early days. Santa Fe is also a hub for creative arts and is home to some great places to get cake. So come with us as we navigate the crooked streets of The City Different and check out our top five picks for the best places to get cake in Santa Fe.
Dolina Bakery & Cafe
Dolina Bakery & Cafe is a modern take on an old-time favorite establishment that bakes their own goods like cakes, pies, and pastries fresh daily and offers a nice breakfast and lunch menu in their cheerful cafe. Along with the standards, they also have unique cake offerings such as the Dobos Torte, which is a Hungarian sponge cake layered with a bittersweet chocolate buttercream frosting and a Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake.
Dolina is Slovak for “valley,” and the owner would know because she grew up in Bucolic Valley in Slovakia, where she has sweet childhood memories of her mother having warm pastries prepared after cold mornings out playing with her friends and the small garden and farm her mother raised. Ultimately, all of this was her inspiration many years later to open Dolina Bakery & Cafe to share the foods she grew up eating with her family and friends here in Santa Fe.
Word on The Street
Customers say that the cakes made here at Dolina are amazing. Fan favorite cakes include their Lemon Cake, the Summer Cake with Fruit, and the Coffee Cake.
A Cake Odyssey
If you’re on the hunt for unique, flavorful, and exquisitely decorated wedding or celebration cakes or cupcakes in Santa Fe, then you will want to check out A Cake Odyssey, “Where cake becomes art.” From traditional cakes to more artistically adventurous cakes, whatever you can imagine, the talented bakers and decorators at A Cake Odyssey can make your dreams come true!
Owners Karyn and Jim West ended up with the name A Cake Odyssey after Karyn had some time to think long and hard about moving beyond traditional wedding cakes to cakes that were representative of the couple’s journey of love. They take pride in being able to interpret what each couple wants their wedding cake to be, or how someone wants the perfect birthday cake to look.
Word on The Street
Fans love how willing Karyn and Jim are to work with them, and the appearance and taste of their cakes. Favorite cakes include the Italian Butter Cream Cake and Frosting with Raspberry Filling and their Yule Log Cake.
Clafoutis
Clafoutis is a family owned and operated French bakery that is rather low-key and country-style that bakes fresh cakes and other baked goods daily along with serving light breakfast, brunch, and lunch options. Whether you’re looking for a regular size cake to take home for dessert or a larger sheet cake for a family function or any other occasion, you can choose from options like their Raspberry Cake, Lemon Cake, and Black Forest Cake.
Clafoutis was opened in 2009 by the Ligier family after moving from and to France a couple of times. Anne and Phillipe invested in a small restaurant building with a parking lot about the same size and managed to make it into a successful business with long lines daily. 2019 saw them move to their current location on Cordova Road, still in the heart of Santa Fe continuing their success.
Word on The Street
Customers agree that the customer service and food can’t be beat. Recommended cakes include the Chocolate Raspberry Cake, the King Cake, and the Lemon Cake.
Pan de Vida
Pan de Vida offers a variety of cakes and other Mexican desserts such as custard and flan, and Mexican breads. They also make custom wedding and other celebration cakes according to how you want them done. So whether you’re looking for exquisitely decorated cakes for any occasion, authentic Mexican cakes and other desserts, or breads, then Pan de Vida is your Santa Fe resource!
You can get your hands on an authentic Mexican specialty cakes such as the Tres Leches cake at Pan de Vida, which translates to “Bread of Life.”
Word on The Street
Patrons love the amazing cakes from Pan de Vida. The most highly recommended cakes are any of the Tres Leches Cakes.
Dulce Bakery & Coffee
Dulce Bakery & Coffee is Santa Fe’s premiere small-batch baked-from-scratch bakery and a rather hip establishment that locally sources their ingredients for baking their cakes and other baked goods, offers light fare, fair trade coffee and specialty drinks. Although most of their cakes are made to order, they normally try to keep six inch cakes like their Coconut Cake in stock for purchase.
Dennis Adkins and Kirk Barnett ended up visiting Santa Fe and realizing that they could start a new life as well as a new business here, so they moved in October of 2008 with the sole intent of opening Dulce. Adkins is the head pastry chef and has always had a passion for baking, and Barnett holds an MBA from the University of Texas and first started at Dulce as a baker, but went on to oversee the responsibilities of General Manager.
Word on The Street
Customers love the staff, coffee, and of course the cakes! Favorite cakes include the cheesecakes, the Cardamom Coffee Cake, and the Red Velvet Cake.
No matter whether you’re a visitor to Santa Fe looking for a great place to get some cake, or if you’re a resident of The City Different looking for the best place to find a wedding, birthday, or quinceañera, we promise you’ll love our top five picks for the best places to get a cake in Santa Fe!