No matter how sour the economy or worrisome the weather, America’s fixation with sweets is still on a roll. Specialty bakeries abound, including SusieCakes on Chestnut, which opened its doors to much fanfare in late June. Already, this self-proclaimed “all American home-style bakery” is drawing crowds.

SusieCakes, with four additional locations in Southern California as well as one at the Bon Air Center in Greenbrae, is the brainchild of Susan Sarich. The bakery specializes in what it calls “sentimental dessert favorites,” baked in-house and designed to conjure up memories of Mom baking away in the kitchen. But what’s wonderful about SusieCakes is that you can serve up these luscious confections to family or friends without ever having to turn on your own oven!

Capitalizing on the continuing cupcake trend, SusieCakes offers a wide variety of its signature frosting-filled cupcakes and miniature cupcakes in tempting combinations of cake and frosting that include chocolate, vanilla and strawberry as well as mocha, peanut butter, red velvet, and chocolate mint. Cookies and bars make up a substantial part of the menu, such as frosted sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, lemon squares, brownies, seven-layer bars, snickerdoodles, and whoopie pies. For those uncertain about what a whoopie pie is, Sarich’s recipe (which comes from her Boston grandmother) features two cake-like cookies sandwiched around rich, creamy filling.

But what sets SusieCakes apart from the corner cupcake store is its specialty and custom layer cakes – grownup-sized desserts perfect for special celebrations. The menu offers standards such as an old-fashioned chocolate layer cake and Southern red velvet cake, to tropical coconut, German chocolate and strawberry confetti cake. You can customize your own choice of cake, frosting, inscription, and decorations, and sizes run from a six-inch layer cake to a fourth, half, or full sheet cake. You can also order a stacked cake with up to three tiers that serves 55-75 people. Puddings, seasonal fruit pies, and a sour cream cheesecake round out the menu.

Stop in for a cookie or cupcake, or to order a special birthday cake that will make someone’s day; Susie’s promises to delight!

SusieCakes: 2109 Chestnut Street; Tuesday–Sunday 10 a.m.–7 p.m., closed Mondays; 415-474-2235, www.susiecakesla.com