Sunday, December 19, 2010

wdw dec. 2010 - babycakes

Okay, time to sit down and do some serious blogging. Last year, I pretty much did a chronological trip through everything we ate, day by day. This year, I think I'm just going to focus each post on a different restaurant, meal or Disney "thing", in no particular order.

For this first post, I just have to rave about the new, all-vegan, all-gluten-free bakery at Downtown Disney - Babycakes NYC Bakery.
Notice anything missing from this picture? Yup, me too. This is the building that houses the wonderful new bakery, but there is absolutely no signage outside. The manager says it's being worked on. I hope so, because this is something people need to know!

Once inside, though, it's not hard to find. (From the above door, just turn right, and you can't miss it.)


You'll notice that the sign doesn't actually say "vegan" or "gluten-free". I actually think this is a brilliant move. This is the only real bakery at Downtown Disney. I think they'll bring in a lot more business from non-vegan tourists who just see the word "bakery", and don't look any further.

Here's a couple shots of the display cases:


While the selection isn't huge, it doesn't need to be - because every item they sell is incredible. The first thing I actually tried was a chocolate chip cookie. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it. Fortunately, the reason I don't have a picture is that my *non-vegan* husband gobbled it down before I could get the camera out! If that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is.

While all of these items are best fresh, I found that they kept very well for a couple of days if I put them in a zip-lock bag. (I have no idea how much longer they would keep - there's no way I could keep from eating them any longer than that.)

And on a non-vegan Disney note: zip-lock bags should be on everyone's packing list. I can't tell you how many uses I have found for them on vacation.

When you get something from the bakery to go, they will either give you a nice little clam-shell-type box, or an adorable "Chinese take-out" box.


There are a variety of cupcakes available. I decided to try the red velvet. Wow, was this ever rich! The frosting is incredible - not the usual bakery-type "just takes like sugar" stuff, but really rich and creamy. I meant to take a picture of it out of the box as well, but somehow it ended up in my tummy before I got to that.


Next up, we have their chocolate crunch donut. (No, I didn't eat all these items in one sitting. As tempting as that may be, each one of these treats is incredibly rich and decadent!) I will confess that I'm not a huge donut fan. (Stems from a few months actually working in a cheap donut shop when I was younger - *not* a pleasant experience.) However, since I hadn't had a donut since before going vegan (more than 10 years ago now), I decided I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did! This was so much better than I thought a donut could be. Actually, this is what cake donuts should be - like cake with toppings. I can't recommend this one enough!


And, last but not least, my favorite item: brownie bites. Okay, so they look a little small - but there is so much flavor packed into these little gems! They are more of a "cake-like" brownie, instead of a chewy one -but they are so much more moist and chocolatey than anything I've managed to bake at home. I so wanted to buy a dozen of these and take them home!

Not only did I make two trips to this bakery (and wanted to make more!), but I also had the wonderful opportunity to meet the manager, Emily. She is just the sweetest person ever - and so excited to be running this location! She's not only a vegan, but a huge Disney fan. I know that she'll do everything she can to make this bakery a success.

I was so excited to hear about this place. Now, having actually tried it, I'm even more excited. Babycakes NYC Bakery is going to be at the top of my "must-do" list for every future Disney trip. I hope it will be high on your "must-do" list, too!

4 comments:

*reyanna* said...

How cool and fun!

Although... when I visited their website, I noticed that not everything was vegan or gluten-free. Huh. Do you think they have different items at different locations? Did you find non-vegan and non-gluten free items at this location? Did they tell you everything was vegan and GF?! I'm just so interested now! LOL.

Glad you had a great time there! I'd love to visit some day! :-)

*reyanna* said...

Okay, re-read their website. Everything is vegan. Not everything is gluten-free. Some of their stuff has spelt (which is a wheat). Okay. Mystery solved. LOL. :-)

Thanks for the review!

Journey_On said...

I visited Babycakes today and got the red velvet cupcake - so good!!

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