When it comes to dessert making, you’re really only limited by your imagination. Ask Angie Stankovic and Nick Boss of 13 Bees Gelato & Dessert Bar and they’ll tell you the same thing. The brains behind The Valley’s cake, crepe, gelato and coffee dispensary love putting a creative spin on sweet stuff – and sugar seekers have been taking notice! Angie, who has been baking since she could reach the kitchen bench, first funnelled her dessert-making talents (taught to her by her grandmother) into a COVID side hustle, selling custom cakes to those looking for an occasion-worthy centrepiece. Seeing a market for her brand of creative confections, Angie and Nick secured the hole-in-the-wall site in Bakery Lane as a permanent headquarters for their own late-night, guilt-free dessert bar. Here, it’s not about bombarding customers with sugar – there’s something for everyone. The cake display at the front of the shop will draw the most eyeballs and for good reason – it’s filled with a colourful (and ever-changing) assortment of imperfectly perfect cakes and cookie pies that are seriously drool-worthy. The assortment is available by the slice, with options including Mars, Snickers, Maltesers, Milky Way, Bueno and Oreo-infused cookie pies, lemon poppy seed cakes, pavlova, gluten-free brownies, and Angie’s famous lemon cheesecake. The 13 Bees team also loves dipping into Australian nostalgia, selling novel eats like honey joy tarts, Milo cake bars and fairy-bread cupcakes. In addition to the ready-made options, 13 Bees also sells custom cakes for birthdays, engagements and weddings, plus the team also takes requests for menu additions. Beyond cakes and cookies, the 13 Bees menu includes palacinke (Serbian-style crepes), with fillings including backyard honey from Angie’s grandparent’s hives, Nutella, house-made lemon curd, salted caramel and banana, and Biscoff spread. Gelato supplied by Delizia Gelato and Sorbet is also available, with a rotating selection of six flavours featuring the likes of lemon sorbet, cookies and cream, vegan peanut butter, Ferrero Rocher, white-choc and macadamia and pistachio. If you don’t like eating cake for breakfast, 13 Bees sells acai bowls, granola bowls and smoothies when it’s open during the day, while specialty coffee is available until late!