Sweeten your Thanksgiving with these festive, (mostly) Pittsburgh-made desserts

Pittsburgh City Paper compiled a selection of (mostly) locally-made Thanksgiving desserts for those who don't like to bake, or for guests who need to bring a dish to impress. See below for pies, cakes, and tarts, as well as the surprise addition of an ice cream turkey.

Wild Rise Bakery
wildrisebakery.com

Wild Rise, a certified gluten-free (and mostly vegan) bakery in Point Breeze, recently released a holiday menu of Thanksgiving pies, cakes, and other “sweet morsels” available for pick-up. This year, Wild Rise is serving up signature Thanksgiving pies (including sweet potato and a locally sourced apple with a crumble top) and a pumpkin spice loaf. Spring for a no-less-autumnal vegan chocolate pie swirled with tahini-maple, “butterdream” cake, or "twunks," cream-filled snack cakes so good they’re laden with innuendo. You can also find select Wild Rise baked goods around town at the East End Food Co-op, Bloomfield Saturday Market, and other locations.

La Gourmandine Bakery
lagourmandinebakery.com

A French bakery might not be the first place that comes to mind for Thanksgiving, but La Gourmandine is here to wow with a handful of holiday specials. Get your seasonal fix with apple or pumpkin tarts — topped with a “ribbon” of vanilla whipped cream – or cranberry-walnut sourdough bread. Items are available for special order through Tues., Nov. 14 at any of La Gourmandine’s four locations.

Bella Christie's Sweet Boutique
bellachristies.com

Is it cake? In this case, yes, it is. The appeal of the Thanksgiving Dinner Cupcake Box from Bella Christie's Sweet Boutique cannot be overlooked — the uncanny little desserts feature icing sculpted into realistic-looking string beans, mashed potatoes (complete with a melting pat of butter), and other Thanksgiving table staples. The boxes are available for pre-order until Sat., Nov. 18 from the Bella Christie's Aspinwall and McCandless locations.

Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream
millieshomemade.com

For a chillier dessert still fit for sweater weather, Millie’s announced a new flavor line-up for November. Fall flavors added to the roster include caramel apple dumpling and pumpkin roll — mixed with baked apple dumpling and pumpkin cake, respectively, from Downtown Pittsburgh’s Cobbler World – in addition to coconut cocoa mocha (vegan and dairy-free) and maple waffle sundae. Flavors are available at Millie’s scoop shops across the region.

Farmer x Baker
farmerxbaker.com

Farmer x Baker has everything covered for lovers of classic Thanksgiving desserts. The local purveyor of farm-to-table goodies has curated a special Thanksgiving menu featuring three pies: traditional pumpkin, salted maple, and a gluten-free pumpkin cheesecake. Order for pick up on Wed., Nov. 22 through the Farmer x Baker online shop.

Baskin-Robbins
baskinrobbins.com

City Paper would be remiss not to include the most memorable of Thanksgiving desserts. The Baskin-Robbins Turkey Cake returned to its stores this month. For those unfamiliar, the “showstopping non-traditional tradition” — as it's described in a company press release — isn’t a cutesy cartoon turkey cake but something closer to a photorealistic approximation of a cooked bird fresh out of the oven. The uncanny confection is made entirely out of ice cream with sugar cone legs and covered in a caramel praline glaze with your choice of ice cream flavor inside. As of this writing, the Turkey Cake is available for preorder at the Baskin-Robbins shop in Upper Saint Clair.