
Neda Abghari
Some of the best bakers in Atlanta don’t work in bakeries or own storefronts. Instead, they toil in their home kitchens, turning out cupcakes, cookies, cannoli, and other treats and relying on word of mouth to sell them. Shameeka Ayers was an unlikely ally. Famous for her lifestyle blog the Broke Socialite, she wasn’t prone to sweets. “I’m one of those folks who can only eat pancakes twice a year,” the thirty-seven-year-old confesses. However, one dull Saturday afternoon got her brainstorming ideas for a weekend events series, and the one she liked best was a sort of pub crawl for treats. Christened Sugar Coma, the events are promoted on Ayers’s blog, and the tours take forty sucrose addicts—who pony up $40—on a bus ride around town, with stops at select bakeries. The storefrontless got involved by popping up at different breaks along the way and by contributing to Sugar Coma goody bags.
Of the more than forty-five bakers who lack brick-and-mortar destinations and whom Ayers has featured on at least one Sugar Coma event, a few stand out in her mind. Stone Mountain–based He-Makes Cheesecakes has divine banana pudding cheesecake; Ayers ran across the joint because owner Anthony Reece is one of her father’s fishing buddies. Daisy’s Desserts and its amaretto cake-crumb sundaes make her swoon. And then there’s Dough Bakery. “They did a banana whoopie pie that will make you slap your mama—and it was vegan!” she gushes.
Sugar Coma tours happen every other month. Past events include a frozen-treats tour in June called Freeze, which showcased Paolo’s Gelato and King of Pops. July witnessed the Great Cupcake Smackdown, which crowned Little Cake Bakery and Pink Cupcake Dreams the queens of red velvet. Everything came to fruition in November for the first Sugar Coma Festival, held in Westside’s Le Fais Do-do; it snagged 215 attendees. For Valentine’s Day, Ayers plans to offer a mixer for singles and couples with a sweet tooth (replete with a DJ and plenty of desserts), but you’ll have to read her blog to get the goods. thebrokesocialite.com