Frost Me Café’s bakery case of temptation

A couple of youngsters I know were on spring break and asked if they could go out for a special treat. Muffins.

Granted, I haven’t been a kid for quite a while now, but I don’t recall muffins being near the top of my list of special treats. But, it being spring break and all, who was I to argue? I searched around for a bakery that serves muffins, and found one in Little Italy.

Frost Me Cafe and Bakery opens its doors onto the Piazza della Famiglia, which used to be a short block on Date Street. Now transformed into a pedestrian plaza, complete with paver stones and a tiered fountain. One of several shops fronting the piazza, Frost Me is easy to spot, thanks to a storefront that is — and I don’t use this term lightly — adorable, lined with umbrella shaded patio tables and huge planters overflowing with succulents.

We walked inside, and I pointed to the part of the glass counter featuring the daily assortment of muffins: vegan banana pecan, lemon cranberry, and blueberry topped with streusel crumbles.

Bear with me, though, because muffins covered only a small shelf in a large case filled with indulgent pastries. Eyes went wide as the kids comprehended the many special treats that might supersede muffins. They agreed to split a blueberry muffin ($4.95), but we would also pick out a few gems from the rest of the case.

They decided to pass over cheddar and chive biscuits ($3.50), mixed berry scones ($4.50), and pecan tarts ($4.75), but we did grab a cinnamon roll topped by a generous spread of glaze ($4.95).

While I set my sights on a ham and parmesan cheese croissant ($4.75), they were more interested in cookies, which lines up more with my own memory of childhood. It was a tough choice between the chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookie ($2.25) and the chocolate-dipped macaroon ($3), so in the end we wound up with both.

Okay, to be honest, the macaroon was for me. I couldn’t resist its toasted coconut crust.

I picked out a fruit tart ($4.95), my thought being that fresh berries could still be considered healthy, despite the silky bed of custard they lay upon. But when it came to the red velvet sandwich cookie ($3.75), I can make no pretense. That was purely for the gluttony and the photo op. Its rainbow sprinkles make it something of a star attraction for this bakery, which started out as delivery only, and has since gone on to win an episode of the Food Network show, Cupcake Wars.

Probably if I had kept that last tidbit in mind, our little muffin outing wouldn’t have turned into a 30-dollar pastry run. Lesson learned: don’t walk into a shop known for producing wedding cakes, unless you’re prepared to eat a lot more than muffins.