Review: Layered Bake Shop in McKinney satisfies fall sweet-tooth cravings

by Jayme Campbell of Confection Confessions

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Pumpkin spice is not only for lattes.

Photo by Jayme Campbell

Brown Spice Macarons from Layered Bake Shop in McKinney

MCKINNEY — Every now and then I stumble upon a new bakery; one of those places that is so impeccable in every item they create that I wonder just exactly who is back in their kitchen creating these delicious baked goods.

I find the best places (and worst, haha) from my readers. Sometimes a reader will stumble upon a bakery and want to know if I have tried it before they give it a go. If I haven’t, it goes on my list right away. Well, I received an email asking if I knew that the recently opened Layered Bake Shop in Historical Downtown McKinney sold macarons. Since my love affair with French macarons borders on inappropriate, this was a spot that couldn’t wait.

I stalked their Twitter for a few weeks and one day I saw a post about pumpkin cupcakes and brown sugar and spice macarons. Be still my heart. For the love of all things fall, did you hear me? I said brown sugar and spice macarons!

Well, the answer is Carb Gnomes. You may have forgot the question after reading the paragraph about brown sugar and spice macarons, so I will give you a second to compose yourself and refresh your memory. Carb Gnomes are in the kitchen at Layered Bake Shop creating these masterpieces. You think I jest, but no human is physically capable of creating something so delicious packed into a confection so small.

Photo by Jayme Campbell

From left: Red Velvet, Pumpkin, and Coffee Cake Cupcakes

These little two-bite creatures trump all other, and I do mean all macarons that I have had in the DFW area. There are macarons in the area that I absolutely adore, but these beauties had the absolute perfect filling to cookie ratio and there was no question that I was indulging in a spicy brown sugar treat from the very first bite.

In addition to the macarons, I sampled the previously mentioned pumpkin cupcake, coffee cake cupcake, and red velvet cupcake.

The pumpkin cupcake was spicy and rich. The cream cheese frosting did not compete with the spice in the cake.

The coffee cake cupcake was a traditional streusel coffee cake. If that isn’t enough, it was topped with a brown sugar butter cream. This is a totally acceptable breakfast.

The red velvet was just as I prefer my red velvet: light, but full of coco flavor, and a delicious cream cheese frosting that is not overpoweringly sweet. I want to taste the cream cheese in the frosting and the buttermilk in the cake.

Their prices are on par with most shops, the staff that I had the pleasure of dealing with was amazing, and what is even better is they are in my same zipcode. Wait, maybe that isn’t such a good thing.

I’ve said it a million times over, but when you create wonderful baked goods because it is your passion and not because it is your job, you can taste the love and dedication in each bite. From the very first bite, I knew Layered Bake Shop was dedicated.

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