April 7, 2021

Brace your sweet tooth: Downtown’s newest dessert option is nearly ready.

Prairie Cocoa & Confections plans to open April 21 at 8th & Railroad Center. It will offer owner Keyes Clemmer’s signature edible art, a full menu of mocktails that will change seasonally and one-of-a-kind desserts, from chocolate mousses and tiramisu to homemade marshmallows and pavlova.

“It’s like it’s really happening,” Clemmer said. “Oh my goodness, I need to make hundreds of desserts.”

Her space in the building at 401 E. Eighth St. is coming together with an “industrial chic” look.

“We wanted to create an atmosphere where people could come in and relax and be comfortable, yet (it is) charming,” she said, adding she’s deliberately not adding public WiFi, so you’ll “focus on the person” you’re with and “sit and forget about life.”

Menu options will include a line of lemonades with fruit caviar, a chocolate martini-inspired mousse lineup, frozen and gourmet hot chocolate, and a cocoa cup line with cookies shaped like shot glasses.

And that’s just a sampling.

Dessert charcuterie will be on the menu too.

Keyes also has seen growing interest in her “letters from the prairie” cookie cake collection.

Her mocktail menu is coming together with offerings such as a strawberry elderflower spritzer and the Sioux Rage, a nonalcoholic spirit “spice” and handcrafted blend of rosemary, blood orange and ginger beer.

“The nonalcoholic spirits we’re using you can’t find in South Dakota,” Clemmer said. “We buy them direct from the manufacturer. They’re out of London. They’re high-end.”

She envisions special offerings at the dessert bar such as a fondue night on Fridays.

Clemmer also plans to continue selling her edible art at the Falls Park Farmers Market.

“I have so many ideas we’ve started to categorize them into months,” she said.

She’s hoping to hire more people before opening day, she added.

In the meantime, customers keep asking about opening day and beyond.

“I think people are really excited because we’ve been pretty quiet about opening,” she said. “You have one chance to make a first impression, and we want everything perfect.”