Daniel B.
Yelp
Sweet Cheats is a dessert cafe located in the heart of Cabbagetown. It's only a few years old and can be found on the north side of Cabbagetown Park, on the ground level of what looks like a modest-sized home. The store specializes in single serving size desserts and cafe beverages, such as coffees and teas.
Cupcakes and cake pops are among the business' most popular items. They're baked fresh in-house every day and flavors rotate daily. Sweet Cheats likes to refer to their cake pops as "Cruffles."
On any given day, you might see roughly 15 different cupcakes and 15 different cake pops beautifully presented and available for immediate purchase from behind a glass display. Examples of other goodies for sale are brownies, cookies, macarons, cheesecakes, chocolate mousse cups, and fruit tarts. Some of the non-sweet stuff consists of bread products like bagels, muffins, English muffins, croissants, and breakfast sandwiches.
Several coffee beverages are offered, iced or hot, such as espresso, latte, and mocha. There are steamers (flavored steamed milk), teas (e.g. chai tea), and fancy or "gourmet" hot chocolate. Also, there's always special or seasonal sweets and beverages to try, such as hot apple cider in the winter. Each time you visit, it seems like there's always something new on the chalkboard.
The prices at Sweet Cheats are comparable to other Atlanta area specialty cupcake shops, meaning they aren't cheap. A single cupcake is $4, a half dozen is $23, and one dozen is $40. Cake pops are $2 each, $12 for a half dozen, and $24 for a dozen (no discounts if you buy more). Expect to spend about $3-4 for a caffeinated drink.
I've tried many of Sweet Cheats' creations. In general, the desserts are indeed very sweet -- admittedly, almost too sweet for me, but I'm not a big sweets person. Though flavors vary, the cupcakes (and other treats) seem to be quite rich and decadent. No corners are cut and I don't believe any artificial ingredients are used in the recipes. It's all real eggs, butter, cream, and sugar.
Sweets I've tried include:
Sweet & Sinful cupcake
Creamy Crunchy Bliss cupcake
Sweet & Sinful cake pop
Blueberry macaron
Heath bar cheesecake
The "Sweet & Sinful" cupcake is a cheesecake-flavored cupcake with shortbread cookie, a strawberry, and a strawberry buttercream cheese icing. It's slightly "lighter" than the other cupcakes. Its cake pop counterpart is equivalent to putting the cupcake cake portion on a stick and dipping it in chocolate. No strawberry or icing, but the rest of the flavors are replicated. Both the cupcake and cake pop are delicious.
The "Creamy Crunchy Bliss" cupcake is a white and chocolate cupcake with Oreo bits baked in. On top is an Oreo cookie and a buttercream cheese icing. It's addictive, luscious, and succulent.
The blueberry macaron I tried was very good. I wouldn't put it among the best macarons I've tried in Atlanta, but it's right behind. Perhaps it's because I ordered the macaron towards the end of the day when it wasn't as fresh. Either way, one thing I noticed about Sweet Cheats' macarons is they are bigger than the average macaron. The macaron had great flavor, though I wasn't completely sold on it due to its relatively harder/firmer consistency. Don't let that steer you away though. If you're a fan or macarons, try one.
The Heath bar cheesecake is stellar. It's hard to go wrong with crunchy chunks of toffee and milk chocolate melded together with tasty, creamy cheesecake. Of the sweets I've mentioned in this review, I recommend both the Heath bar cheesecake and the Creamy Crunchy Bliss cupcake. Good stuff.
The beverages aren't bad. I've tried some of the seasonal drinks such as the pumpkin pie mocha in the fall and the caramel apple latte. I really enjoyed the caramel apple latte. It's soothing/refreshing and not overly sweet. The pumpkin pie mocha could've used some work. I could taste the pumpkin pie, but the drink was too bitter.
Like other local dessert shops, Sweet Cheats has sturdy, stylish, and functional to-go containers for all of their sweets, down to containers tailor-made to store and protect single cupcakes. The business also ships (minimum order one dozen cupcakes) and delivers (minimum order $40).
The store space is intimate and casual. It works well as a meet-up spot for small groups. Free Wi-Fi is available (password: sweet9512). Free parking can be found in the small parking lot behind the building or along any of Cabbagetown's residential roads.
Service is great. You may be served directly by the owner, Shirley, or her husband, Robert.