Miami's Ten Best Bakeries: Calling All Carb-Hounds

​Want access to our Best Of picks from your smartphone? Download our free Best Of app for the iPhone or Android phone from the App Store or Google Play.

Epicure

Epicure's baked goods on display.

​Hunting down fresh baked goods worth the calorie intake is a feat requiring carbohydrate perseverance. Most often, we hear complaints from local pastry chefs about the water and the humidity, which can effectively drain the life out of breads and cakes. The cry-out for good pastry in Miami is guttural, like a wailing howl, "where does the buttery, flaky, goodness lie?"

Don't fret, from cupcakes filled with cream to rolls studded with jalapenos and cheddar cheese, there are fantastic bakeries ranking high on the feel good scale of consumption. You'll find surprising assortments within the city's gourmet grocery stores, authentic French patisserie, and naturally, a few that specialize in Cuban and Latin American delicacies.

Both sweet stalkers and savory loaf seekers will find a bakery to call home on our list of the city's top ten. If visions of frosting, chocolate and flour dance in your pastry filled head, this one is for you.

10. Epicure
This gourmet grocery has a fairly impressive array of bakery items that reek of old school deli. Epicure is where you'll find a decent black and white cookie, rugelach just like Bubbi bakes, and classic 7-layer cake. Pick up a soft, doughy challah for fabulous French toast making, or a few fruit filled danish, drizzled with a smattering of thick white frosting. The cinnamon raisin loaves are outstanding, and this is the only place on our list to deliver a traditional rye bread.

El Brazo Fuerte Bakery/Facebook

​9. El Brazo Fuerte Bakery
Pastelitos are the specialty at El Brazo Fuerte Bakery, stuffed with either a savory mix of beef, ham, or tuna, or the expected guava and cheese combo, this bakery does them well. Get a Pan de Bocadito (Pullman Bread) as well as pizza pastry so you can bring the bakery home to your own kitchen. From red velvet to chocolate, they bake up old fashioned looking birthday party buttercream cakes with lots of cute cartoon characters that would make any kid happy.