Through our annual Made in the South Awards, G&G editors have come across some of the most enchanting, innovative pantry and bar items designed and produced in the South, but few have been as popular with our readers as the sweet treats that have risen to the top. So whether you’re looking to add another cake stand to your holiday dessert table or are on the hunt for your next favorite late-night indulgence, here are six of our sweetest past Made in the South Award winners and runners-up.
Half-caramel, half-coconut cloud cake
Spartanburg, South Carolina
In the eighties, Caroline Ragsdale Reutter started baking cakes for friends and family—and four decades later, her son has carried on her legacy by making some of the most decadent, old-school desserts and shipping them across the country. We recognized them in 2024 for their church-picnic-worthy half-caramel, half-coconut cloud cake, but they’ve got a cake for every occasion.
Confectioner and outdoorsman Scott Witherow dreamed up his duck-fat caramels while, fittingly, in a duck blind. Replacing butter with duck fat in the caramel-making process adds a subtle richness and depth to each bite, making these sweets one of our most popular award winners of all time. Over the last decade, Olive and Sinclair has introduced new offerings, too, including a ghost pepper and sea salt and vinegar flavor.
The idea for the Not Fried Chicken ice cream bar came to the James Beard–nominated pastry chef Cynthia Wong during a nap, when she was a “delirious, overworked chef,” she says. And truly, the confection is straight out of a Willy Wonka–inspired fever dream. Take a chocolate cookie “bone,” wrap it in waffle-flavored ice cream, then roll the whole thing in cornflake breading and you’ve got one of the most unique—and mouthwatering—honorees we’ve ever had.
Since 2006, Jael Skeffington and Dan Rattigan have been channeling chocolate into artisan bars, bonbons, hot cocoa mix, and other tasty treats on the banks of the French Broad River in Asheville. Although Hurricane Helene flooded their retail space and café last fall, the chocolate-making equipment was spared, and after a few weeks of rebuilding and repair (and waiting for the return of potable water), the team started crafting treats again, including their award-winning malted milk chocolate bars, which taste like they were stripped right out of a childhood memory.
When Hugh Balthrop left Washington, D.C., for his wife’s native Mississippi, he smoothly transitioned from art gallery owner to gelato maker—because why not? Each of his indulgent flavors—think banana pudding, whiskey and pecans, and poundcake—is made with locally sourced ingredients and ships nationwide via Goldbelly.
In 2010, Greg and Ana Kelly opened Alabama’s first-ever sheep dairy on thirty acres of farmland about an hour outside of Birmingham. And while their sheep-milk cheeses are stellar, the real standout is their caramel sauce made with sheep’s milk and raw turbinado sugar. Each of the three flavors—vanilla bean, coffee, and bourbon—is perfect drizzled over ice cream, mixed into a cup of tea, or even spread across a sandwich.
