Sugar Rush: Four Barrel Coffee Cake from Hayes Valley Bakeworks, San Francisco

[Photographs: Carrie Vasios]

Hayes Valley Bakeworks is on a pretty unassuming little stretch of Gough Street on the northern edge of Hayes Valley. You might not have had occasion to walk by, but it's worth the detour. What makes it unique is that it's partnered with local organization Toolworks to function as not just a cafe but as a non-profit "social enterprise." They offer employment and job training to disabled, homeless, and at-risk individuals. Nothing like doing some good while you indulge in some sugar.

The program makes everything in house, and a lot of it is good. Take the Four Barrel Coffee Cake ($2.75). The cake is incredibly moist, with the kind of crumb that stays unified instead of crumbling around your fork. The whole thing is dotted with big grinds of local Four Barrel Coffee. Those coarse grinds might be off-putting to some, but I found it adds a poppy-seed like texture without being gritty. More importantly, it means the cake really tastes like coffee, which is hard to find.