Courtesy of Sweet Tooth Soiree

As kiddos, our well-intentioned parents made us choke down our broccoli at dinner before we got a bite of the real evening attraction: dessert. And as grown ups, we inflict the same torture on ourselves, often without the sugary reward. After all, being an adult means swimsuit season, calorie-counting and rabbit food. Sigh.

But sometimes, you just gotta throw off the shackles of healthy living and let your kid flag fly. Hence the brilliance of Sweet Tooth Soiree, a dessert and drinks event coming to Gulfstream Park on April 12. Think pies on sticks, truffle-making demos and yummy cocktails, too.

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- Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar: Opening Tonight at Gulfstream Park

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Shauna Young Dessert Tables

Ring in 2013 with a little bit of sugar shock.

Kimberly Hale has the kind of job that every kid (and sugar-addict adult) would fantasize about. She spends her days playing with candy. Or rather, carefully arranging well thought-out, highly customized candy buffets for weddings, showers, parties, and other special events as coordinated by her Florida-based business Extraordinary Sweets. So, basically playing with candy. Clean Plate Charlie reached out to Hale for some tips on how to put together a kick-ass candy buffet for your New Year's Eve party.

See Also:
- Meet Extraordinary Sweets: Their Custom Candy Buffet Will Be at This Weekend's Sweet Dreams Festival
- Recap of Sixth Annual Sweet Dreams at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek (Photos)
- South Florida New Year's Eve 2013 Dinners: Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Beyond

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All images by Tricia Woolfenden

A little booze to go with the sugar binge.

Even the most sugar-crazed sweets addict probably had to take a knee at some point during the sixth annual Sweet Dreams, which went down this past weekend at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek. To call the dessert-focused special event decadent would be a gross understatement. I'll be eating nothing but plain, steamed kale for a week in an effort to cleanse my veins of the sugar syrup that replaced my blood (did I mention there were a bazillion sweets?).

See Also:
- Meet Extraordinary Sweets: Their Custom Candy Buffet Will Be at This Weekend's Sweet Dreams Festival
- Corner Bakery Cafe Opens in Pembroke Pines With Giveaways
- Top 10 Workout Songs for Burning Holiday Calories

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Courtesy photo

A buffet minus the heating lamps and chafing dishes.

Think back to the last wedding you attended. Was the highlight of the evening the painfully drawn-out and chuckle-free best man's speech or the leathery steak? More likely, it was the elaborate candy buffet that would make Wonka's factory look like the vending machine in an auto repair store's wait room.

Three and a half years ago, Kimberly Hale launched Extraordinary Sweets -- her Florida-based custom candy buffet company -- just ahead of the candy buffet trend that's now so popular at weddings, engagement parties, showers, and coroporate events. She and her small team of candy stylists (yes; such a job does exist) will be among the vendors at this weekend's sixth annual Sweet Dreams holiday festival at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.

The 21-and-older event is Friday and Saturday nights and promises a hedonistic spread of sugary treats like cake pops, fancy cookies and brownies, a chocolate fountain, liquid nitrogen ice cream, sweet crepes, and an assortment of other not-so-good-for-you goods. Hale and her team are putting together a "winter wonderland" themed buffet resplendent in silvers, ivories, purples, and blues.

"Almost everyone loves candy," Hale said. "It's that kid in a candy store sensation. You can take what you like."

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- Top 10 Workout Songs for Burning Holiday Calories
- Food Network Kitchen Opens at Fort Lauderdale International Airport

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Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme introduces a Key lime doughnut. You want it!

There's something about Krispy Kreme doughnuts that incites near riots at generally civilized offices, schools, and church groups. 

While many people treat their work friends to  doughnuts (and we appreciate it, we do)... the mere sight of that green and white Krispy Kreme box is enough to set off a serious bout of pushing and shoving in anticipation of those warm, sugary substances that require no chewing because they simply melt in your mouth.

In a serious attempt to show South Florida some of the obsessive love we show it, Krispy Kreme has introduced a Key Lime Kreme variety to celebrate National Doughnut Day on June 1 and as part of the doughnut baker's 75th anniversary.

The Key Lime Kreme doughnut is a yeast doughnut filled with a blend of Key lime and original kreme, topped with white icing and graham cracker crumble.

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Courtesy photo

Demonstrating that baked goods can be nonpartisan or, perhaps more accurately, bipartisan, Cupcake Couture Sweet Boutique in Delray Beach this past weekend prepared special sweet treats for a second presidential hopeful in less than one week.

On Sunday, April 15, the boutique bakery created nearly 300 cupcakes for a fundraiser held in Palm Beach and attended by presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. The bakery also prepared cupcakes that were served to President Barack Obama during his Tuesday, April 10, visit to South Florida. (Read about the president's red velvet request here.) 

"We couldn't be more proud that we have been asked to be a part of both of these political events," said owner Pamela Joyner in an email to Clean Plate Charlie.

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Courtesy photo

The president's flavor of choice? Red velvet.

Cupcake Couture Sweet Boutique in Delray Beach scored a culinary coup this week when their sweet baked goods were served to President Barack Obama who spoke Tuesday at Florida Atlantic University as part of a visit to South Florida (view a slideshow of images here). The boutique bakery's cupcakes were served Tuesday at a private fundraiser for Obama: he had three such stops as part of his visit to South Florida.

The bakery got the call on Monday afternoon that a caterer they work with was in need of sugary treats for a private affair with Obama in attendance. On Tuesday morning, they baked 40 "vogue" cupcakes (muffin-sized) as well as 100 petite cupcakes in an assortment of flavors. The president's flavor of choice? Red velvet. Or in Cupcake Couture parlance, Red Valentino.

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Elite Cake Creations

Divorce cakes are a specialty at Elite Cake Creations.

​In Cuba in 1921, Beatriz Otero's ancestors founded a bakery called La Gran Via. It eventually grew to have 55 employees, five storefronts, and a dozen delivery trucks. But when Fidel Castro came to power, the family fled to Puerto Rico. The bakery was seized by the government and continues to operate under state control to this day, Otero says.

Otero's family opened another La Gran Via in Puerto Rico.  Otero was raised in the Dominican Republic but went to college at Florida International University, where she got a degree in business administration and marketing and wrote a thesis on the family bakery. Not long afterward, she opened Elite Cake Creations.More »

joefoodie via Flickr Creative Commons

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In a region that is home to dozens of burger joints and seaside shacks, it was no easy task to narrow down the choice of best milk shake in South Florida. That being said, we've compiled a list of ten of the best spots to score a creamy, rich, and cold sugary treat in Broward and Palm Beach. As always, feel free to use the comments section to voice your agreement or to tell us who we should've included in our list.

1. Kilwin's

It's only natural that a store that devotes nearly every fiber of its being to the veneration of the cocoa bean would excel at providing a rich, creamy cocktail that's a veritable chocolate explosion. The double-chocolate shake at Kilwin's bypasses the half-assed -- and some would say, incorrect -- method of using vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. Instead, the shake is the straight-up good stuff: chocolate ice cream blended with chocolate syrup. Prepare to lose yourself in a cocoa-induced frenzy, followed by the subsequent crash. More »

Paulaadamsmith via Flickr Creative Commons

Slice into mathematical deliciousness on Pi Day.

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