Today was a beautiful day and so I decided to take a long walk and eat cake. I know, a fantastic idea, right?

And one of the bakeries on my list was the darling little shop called Belle Cakery in the East Passyunk area of Philadelphia (it's pretty hip there). It's mainly a custom-order cake shop but they have a well-curated selection of sweets in the front, and a few tables for seating. And when I say "a few" I mean more than three people is a crowd in this store.

I went with a friend so we got a few things to try. What to get? After all, we had many options.

We kept it pretty simple. One pricey dessert, one cheap one.

First up, the oatmeal cranberry cookie. A steal at just 50 cents!

It was a highly pleasing cookie. I have been quite fond of the oat-and-cranberry combo since making "Cranzac Biscuits", and this cookie was a fine illustration of how delightful these flavors taste together. A buttery cookie that was crisp on the edges and chewy inside got a little liveliness from zingy cranberries, which brought the brown sugary-ness to life. A nice twist on a classic.

Next up, the pretty as a picture lemon poppyseed "Sunshine" cake. Visually it was fun in construction--a mini Dr. Seuss cake. It was extremely lemony--in a good way, not so tart it made you pucker but not so sweet that it hurt your teeth. It boasted a robust, custardy feel in the lemon sections; the poppyseed cake section was more like the complement to this part rather than the main event. Moreover, a delight. The employee said that it was his favorite dessert, like, ever, and that sold us--and he didn't steer us wrong. It was a very good cakelet-thing. At $6, it was spendy, but money well spent--a playful, fun dessert that was more exciting and exotic than a mere lemon cupcake.

Belle Cakery, 1437 E. Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia; online here.