From fresh baked breads to crispy, fruit-drenched tarts and chocolates, these best Valley bakeries and cafés are sure to whet your sweet tooth. Bon Appétit!
Pastry display case at Scratch Pastries, Scottsdale.
Au Petit Four
If golden croissants, creamy-custard éclairs and fluffy soufflés are what you’re craving, look no further than Scottsdale’s own Au Petit Four. Expertly trained in Lyon, owners Catherine and Pierre Berraud-Dufour have been operating their French restaurant/bakery business for the past 11 years. Specialties of note include the lychee raspberry rose mousse and oranais brioche with apricot and vanilla custard cream. For the quite literal full deal, the café also serves full French meals, including classic croque monsieur with a béchamel sauce and an excellent quiche lorraine.
Details: 7217 E. Fourth Ave., Scottsdale
480-946-3834
aupetitfour.com
Karsh’s Bakery
Karsh’s Bakery is a total Kosher bakery. Employing old world recipes since 1968, Vaad HaKashruth whips up one of a kind artisan breads, such as cornmeal, marble rye and even a blueberry challa. Sweets include whimsical cake pops, and cake and icing rolled into a ball, dipped in chocolate.
Details: 5555 N. 7th Street, #116 Cinema Park Plaza, Phoenix
602-264-4874
karshsbakery.com
The Baker’s Daughter
Chocolatier Christine Boerner’s contemporary pastry and chocolate shop is sweetly located right next door to the old family bakery where she honed her love for baked goods as a child. Christine trained in Switzerland under master pastry chef Oliver Hofmann with a subsequent three-year apprenticeship. One can find rich homemade chocolates, shortbreads, petit fours and elaborate gateaux, êt plus. On Sundays, sit-down breakfasts are served, featuring made-to-order coffees, omelets and crêpes.
Details: 8847 N. Seventh Ave., Phoenix
602-997-7850
thebakersdaughter.net
Scratch Pastries
Husband and wife co-owners Duc and Noelle Liao import ingredients from France, including cheese (like Brie and comte), tea (Mariage Frères) and chocolate. Be sure to entertain your tastebuds with the Paris Brest, an airy doughnut-shaped pastry that’s sliced in half and filled with smooth pistachio cream and Italian cherries; a classic French treat, but rarity to the Valley. The full lunch and dinner menu is worth taking a bite as well.
Details: 7620 E. Indian School Road #103, Scottsdale
480-947-0057
scratchpastries.com
