The Chocolate Rose: Mashpee confectioner takes top spot in Cape Cod best bakery poll

Gwenn Friss, Cape Cod Times
Updated ·5 min read

Editor's note: Due to a reporter's errors, this story was changed April 19 to correct an incorrect website address for The Chocolate Rose ― Cake Artistry & Fine Pastries in Mashpee. The six-year-old bakery storefront owned by Johnson & Wales University-trained Pastry Chef Vanessa Benoit can be reached at chocolaterosecakes.com/. Also, to clarify, individual portions of vegan and gluten-free options are available for breakfast and dessert every day and three-layer cake flavors in the ready-to-take case change weekly.

MASHPEE ― At first glance, The Chocolate Rose bakery looks lonely, seemingly the only tenant in a neat white clapboard strip mall on Route 130.

But up close, the charming bakery that looks and smells like a treasure chest full of handmade baked jewels is just one-third of Johnson & Wales University-trained pastry chef/owner Vanessa Benoit’s realm.

“We have this and the two units next door,” said Benoit, a professional cake maker for 30 years. Six years ago, “We came here to increase our commercial kitchen space and then we added the store and we added product lines.”

Benoit, who started out making wedding cakes, now also sells breakfast sandwiches, croissants, danish, quiche, muffins, cookies, scones and more in brightly lit display cases so inviting you just want to press your nose against the glass.

The Chocolate Rose Bakery owner Vanessa Benoit stands behind the cake case, with individual servings on the shelf below. The Rose, located in Mashpee and named after Benoit's grandmother, was voted Best Bakery on Cape Cod by readers.
The Chocolate Rose Bakery owner Vanessa Benoit stands behind the cake case, with individual servings on the shelf below. The Rose, located in Mashpee and named after Benoit's grandmother, was voted Best Bakery on Cape Cod by readers.

“We can do gluten-free or vegan (cakes) with advance notice,” Benoit said, noting that individual portions of gluten-free and vegan breakfast and dessert are available daily.

One case over from the baked goods are three-layer cakes ― fresh strawberry and also lemon the day I visited; the 44 flavors on the menu change weekly for the buy-from-the-case option ― that sell for $55 and individual dessert portions for $5 to $7.

The single-serve options mirror the cakes: There was a lemon sponge layer cake with blueberry compote, topped with oversized blueberries dusted in edible gold.

“We cater to people who are looking for edible art,” said Benoit, taking time to chat in her wedding cake tasting room.

The art concept is not only what you see, but what you taste. Cakes are topped with buttercream frosting made with house-cured vanilla and high-end butter and filled with ganache or fruit compote.

“My gosh, if you could see my berry bill,” Benoit said. “But I don’t believe in using buttercream on the inside of a cake.”

Post-pandemic, Benoit said, The Chocolate Rose and its 13 employees are restarting baking lessons and special events. For more information, visit chocolaterosecakes.com.

Cape Cod’s top 5 bakeries, as chosen by 423 Cape Cod Times readers:

The Chocolate Rose, 628 Main St., Suite A, Mashpee, 774-238-7020, chocolaterosecakes.com/.

Don't feel guilty if you browse the wedding cake photos even if you are not getting married!

Scapicchio's Bakery, 941 Route 28, South Yarmouth, 508-694-5665, scapicchiosbakery.com/.

Matthew Scapicchio with his cookie creations in a 2021 file photo at Scapicchio's Bakery in South Yarmouth.
Matthew Scapicchio with his cookie creations in a 2021 file photo at Scapicchio's Bakery in South Yarmouth.

Scapicchio's is Italian from the Rum Baba and spuckies in the pastry case to the family who runs it: Baker Matthew Scapicchio, trained in Boston's North End Italian bakeries, his wife, Debbie, and their children Angela and Domenic. They offer a full range of Italian specialties, including a Sicilian-style pizza sold daily by the slice. And the spuckies? That's another word for sub roll, grinder, hoagie, hero or whatever you call the sandwich roll.

PB Boulangerie Bistro, 15 LeCount Hollow Road, South Wellfleet, 508-349-1600, pbboulangeriebistro.com/.

Official snack food of loop hikes: a fresh, flaky croissant from PB Boulangerie & Bistro in South Wellfleet.
Official snack food of loop hikes: a fresh, flaky croissant from PB Boulangerie & Bistro in South Wellfleet.

A French native who trained in Europe before earning his first Michelin Star for a restaurant he opened in Las Vegas, according to PB's website, chef/owner Philippe Rispoli opened PB Boulangerie Bistro in 2010. Although he has not abandoned his classical techniques, his business has become a part of the small-town neighborhood, naming a cookie after the nearby bike trail (how some guests arrive) and crafting a roll called the Wellfleetian.

The bakery line, especially in summer, stretches around the block (locals know to start queuing up at 6 a.m. for croissants) but the aromas of baking bread and friendly chats in line make PB as popular as any Cape attraction.

Latest on the extensive menu is French toast made with candied orange and white chocolate bread.

Maison Villatte Boulangerie, 267 Main St., Falmouth, 774-255-1855, on Facebook

If you visit Maison Villatte, now open for the season, and see big metal boxes filled with dough that looks like it is just hanging out, that is exactly what it is doing ― and all is right in the bakery.

Pastries on display at Maison Villatte, shortly after the French bakery opened in Falmouth in 2012.
Pastries on display at Maison Villatte, shortly after the French bakery opened in Falmouth in 2012.

In his mission statement, baker/owner Boris Villatte explains that dough is prepared the day before it is scheduled for baking so that it can rise naturally rather than coaxing it with fast yeast or high temps. Time is an ingredient in successfully transforming dough into breads (my favorite is the olive or cheese) that is crusty outside and fragrantly pillow-like inside.

Maison Villatte is also a patisserie with a 10-foot, double-shelved glass case where you can inch along and gaze at the pain chocolat, croissants, tarts, cookies and other pastries. Make a mental note of who is serving you because at the busiest times a cadre of servers will line up one to a customer and move with you, filling boxes with pastries from the case and breads from the wall behind the case.

Cottage Street Bakery, 5 Cottage St., Orleans, 508-255-2821, cottagesgtreetbakery.com

Cottage Street Bakery in Orleans sells fruit pies, pastries and sandwiches on house-baked bread.
Cottage Street Bakery in Orleans sells fruit pies, pastries and sandwiches on house-baked bread.

Bakery lovers, there is something to be said about knowing your wheelhouse and at Cottage Street Bakery that sweet spot is pie. Known for its Thanksgiving rush, customers may not realize Cottage Street Bakery sells pies year-round, including one that combines strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and peach.

Cottage Street Bakery serves build-your-own sandwiches on its varieties of housemade breads ― including oatmeal which I don't see as often anymore ― but I think I would try the chicken salad with apricots and almonds if only for the name: "?"Chicken Dance."

Gwenn Friss is the editor of CapeWeek and covers entertainment, restaurants and the arts. Contact her at gfriss@capecodonline.com. Follow her or X, formerly Twitter: @dailyrecipeCCT

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.

,

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: These are the top 5 bakeries on Cape Cod, according to readers