Elm Street Sweets is part of Joe Cassinelli’s Alpine Restaurant Group with its core holdings located in Davis Square. Posto and Rosebud are helping this newest venture get off the ground. Posto provides baking space and Rosebud provides a pick-up depot.

By Denise Keniston
tw:@denisekeniston

Davis Square’s new bakery, Elm Street Sweets, is elevating the art of pastry-making and attracting pie and cake lovers from Somerville and beyond. Elm Street Sweets is the latest addition to the Alpine Restaurant Group. Sister restaurants Rosebud and Posto (both in Davis Square and within steps of each other) are helping the online bakery get off the ground.

Posto provides the baking space and Rosebud provides the pick-up location for online orders. “This is something I’ve been thinking about for quite a while,” says owner Joe Cassinelli. “Creating an online only bakery is a little different, but the marketplace is ready for it. Soon, we’ll be delivering with DoorDash and then shipping nationwide. The demand is there.”

Executive pastry chef Tali Pinnolis jokes she “spends a lot of time making crusts.” From day one, online sales have been “brisk.” This has given Elm Street Sweets momentum to expand into new markets such as nationwide shipping and retail sales through local grocery stores.

At 4:00 a.m. on most mornings, executive pastry chef Tali Pinnolis is tucked away in the basement of Posto baking, which she describes as her “creative outlet.” Her ingredients are the purest butters, freshest creams, sweetest sugars, ripened fruits, and smooth chocolates, giving Elm Street Sweets’ confections something special. Pinnolis says, “We use only quality ingredients in all our pies, cakes, and cookies and we make everything from scratch,” she adds. “It’s like homemade, but better. I take my time and pay attention to every detail. That’s our commitment to Elm Street Sweets and our customers appreciate it.”

When Pinnolis finishes filling orders for the day, she walks her creations a few steps up Elm Street to Rosebud for customer pick-up. Standouts are the ridiculously moist tres leches, classic Dutch apple pie with all-butter pie crust, and the key lime pie with homemade graham cracker crust. “We all want Elm Street Sweets to succeed and, so far things are going great,” says Pinnolis. “We’re always trying out new recipes which get tested and retested many, many times before we put them online. We’re about to start taking holiday orders and that’s going to keep me busy!”

From top left to bottom – peanut butter fudge pie ($35), key lime pie ($32), pumpkin cheese cake ($32), peanut butter devil’s food cake ($45), Dutch apple pie ($28). For now, you can only get these beauties online.

Annie Boursiquot is one of Elm Street Sweets’ biggest fans. Recently, she and her family celebrated her sister’s birthday with tres leches cake for dessert–, Annie’s favorite. “I love Elm Street Sweets’ tres leches with a passion,” she says. “It’s the best tres leches in Boston and is just like how my aunts make it,” she adds. “It’s so moist, not spongey, sweet, but not too sweet. Everything about it is just right!”

For now, you can only get these beauties online and it will take 48-hours before you can pick up your creation. Chef Pinnolis will start taking holidays orders soon. Go to www.elmstreetsweets.com to order today.

Elm St. Sweets’ key lime pie is a favorite. Pinnolis says the “ingredients are simple,” but the measurements and baking times are “very specific”. Customers can start pre-ordering for the holidays next week.

Annie Boursiquot dives into her favorite tres leches cake, a ridiculously moist, milk-soaked vanilla sponge cake. The “first half” she shared with her family and the “other half” was all hers! — Photos by Denise Keniston