Brewnuts
It's Homer Simpson's ultimate dream — delectable doughnuts made from local craft beer. "Our whole concept is to really reflect the craft breweries around the area and what people are drinking at that time," says Brewnuts creator Shelley Fasulko. Try the brown butter maple bacon bourbon ale donut ($3), which uses Elevator Brewing Co.'s Angry Goat, a barrel-aged nut-brown ale, mixed with brown butter, whole milk, bourbon extract and pure vanilla to create the batter.
Kit's Confections
Truffles are already sinful and sweet, but Kit's Confections gourmet adult truffles ($27.95 per pound) laced with liquor takes your dessert up a notch. Owner Ellen Lehoe mixes vodka, rum, whiskey or liqueurs with Merckens dark chocolate to create more than 35 different flavors including the top-selling buckeye ball (a peanut butter and Bacardi 151 concoction), black Russian and ahhh-maretto out of her Parma home. "My flavor options are endless," she says.
Auts Tipsy Treats
For Autumn Skoczen, owner of Auts Tipse Treats, figuring out how different types of alcohol work with sugar was the biggest challenge in creating her patent-pending cupcake shots (yes, there's actually a shot of liquor baked inside). "Vodkas are mostly made from potatoes, rum is sugar-based, so when you put different alcohols in batters or frosting, they all react differently," says Skoczen, who offers more than 70 cupcake flavors ($3) ranging from chocolate to Washington apple.
