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DIY Disney Recipe: Chocolate Chip Crumbcakes

A special thanks to Chef BigFatPanda for sharing his recent kitchen adventures with us! Follow along as he (and Chef Mickey!) take us right into the kitchen with them as they create Chocolate Chip Crumbcakes from the Boardwalk Bakery on Disney World’s Boardwalk. Take it away, Chef!

Hello again! Chef BigFatPanda here with another Disney cooking adventure. This time, we are going to make Chocolate Chip Crumbcakes. These miniature cakes with semisweet chocolate chips originated at the Boardwalk Bakery in Walt Disney World. Many people suggest serving them with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream.

Although they are served as mini loaves at the Bakery, I opted to make them as cupcakes; I didn’t have miniature loaf pans and thought many of you out there might not either. But I’m sure that [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Weekly Round-Up: March 28, 2010

By AJ Leave a Comment

Our Goodies at the Wishes Dessert Party

Well, folks, “when it rains, it pours” regarding Disney food news this week! Here’s a recap from DFB before we launch into the Disney Food Post Weekly Round-Up.

The Wishes Dessert Party in the Magic Kingdom is now booking through May.
Additional news and rumors were reported about Epcot’s Italy pizzeria, and Cantina de San Angel.
Three restaurants in Epcot will have Extended Dining Hours through April 10th.
A Chef’s Counter option may be coming to Flying Fish Cafe
The April/May Tables in Wonderland Events have been announced.
In Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Studio Catering Company has re-opened with a new menu

Plus, if you’re a Disney blogger, considering joining the DisMarks Disney Blog Carnival this week!

Now, on to the Round-Up! For those of you who are new to Disney Food Blog, each week we scour the web for some of the best Disney food writing around, then highlight it on our Sunday blog post. Enjoy!

Cupcakes Take The Cake showcased the Disney World Cupcakes from our “You Won’t Believe This!” snack series! (Nope, we’re not afraid to toot our own horn!)

Disney History Institute talks Disney and General Mills, with a focus on a Disney-fied August 1955 issue of The Modern Millwheel of General Mills.

Main Street Gazette has an awesome post about “Widowmaker Fries.” Don’t know what they are? Neither did we… check it out!

DF ’82 takes us on a tour of Colonel Hathi’s Pizza Outpost in Disneyland Paris Resort.

Gorillas Don’t Blog has an enchanting post and some keen photos of the current whereabouts of the Disneyland Carnation Truck from Carnation Corner.

Tasty Chomps goes to Epcot’s Sommerfest! Yum!

Disney Every Day reviews Whispering Canyon Cafe…and has a really big knife to boot!

Babes in Disneyland shares a pic of an adorable Disneyland Easter Treat!

WDW Radio‘s Lou Mongello takes us on a video tour in search of the best snack in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

SamLand’s Disney Adventures pays homage to his Flying Fish Cafe “Chef’s Counter” meal (I wish there were pictures, but the descriptions of the courses are mouth-watering). Scroll down to mid-post for the restaurant visit.

AllEarsNet blogger Mike Bachand brought pics back from the first Epcot Flower and Garden Festival Garden Town Breakfast.

Disney Parks Blog reports new evening hours at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill.

OC Register highlights a “Cheap Disneyland Kids’ Meal That’s Not Nasty.” You HAVE to love that title.

Cakewrecks shares a coolio “UP” cake…keep scrolling down and you’ll find it!

“You Won’t Believe This!” Snack: White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake

By AJ 30 Comments

Sarah S., who writes several blogs including Kitchen Catastrophes, emailed me recently to see if I’d heard of or seen the “White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This clearly belongs in our “You Won’t Believe This!” snack series! Here’s Sarah’s description:

White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake at Animal Kingdom

This is called the White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake and can be found at Disney Animal Kingdom’s Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery. This cupcake really has a WOW factor in its height alone. When we walked away from the counter with this — for brunch, I might add — people were staring and pointing.

The cupcake is make of chocolate cake and topped with a white vanilla cream frosting, which is super sweet but very yummy. The white frosting is topped with toasted coconut, which really adds to the flavor. In the center is a peanut-butter textured frosting that I couldn’t actually place a flavor on, but it was still excellent-tasting and added texture to the entire creation.

The best part of this cupcake is its name-sake: a white chocolate elephant lollipop stuck [Read more…]

Top Ten Disney Dining Tips Straight From Disney Fans

By AJ 37 Comments

I put out the call on Twitter and Facebook for everyone’s best Disney Dining advice (because you guys are the experts!!). A lot of the responses could be combined, conveniently, into what I think is one awesome Top Ten list:

TOP TEN: DINING TIPS FROM THE DISNEY EXPERTS

1. Make Reservations
This piece of advice was mentioned dozens of times: Make Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) no matter what…and make them early! We suggest you plan ahead and make dining reservations for your high priority meals 180 days ahead of your visit to Disney World and 60 days ahead of your visit to Disneyland. (To us, they’re all high priority, so we just make all of our reservations as soon as we can.)

Click here to subscribe

For those wondering if going to the parks during a traditionally slow season negates the need for ADRs, it doesn’t. The popular restaurants are always popular, and Disney’s “slow seasons” are getting shorter and shorter. Making reservations usually costs nothing, and can save you lots of time during your trip. Here’s a primer on how to make reservations for Disney Restaurants.

Of course, if you’re dead set against making advanced reservations, here are a few of our suggested restaurants you can still get into without an ADR.

Fluffy Omelet Brunch at Be Our Guest

2. Do Your Research
Lots of folks suggested that an important part of planning your Disney dining is doing research about the restaurants and dining options available. I couldn’t agree more. Check out restaurant reviews, learn from other Disney fans how they handled Dining planning for their vacations, read trip reports, and sift through the posts here on the Disney Food Blog. The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be to create a seamless Dining strategy that will be enjoyable for your whole family.

One great tip: take stock of the types of eaters you’re bringing with you; make sure you know if you need to plan for fussy eaters, specific eating schedules, food allergies or intolerance, or just plan likes and dislikes, then translate that into your research.

We have plenty of dining reviews right here on the Disney Food Blog, of course, but we also have some great reference information on choosing restaurants when you have special diets to consider. Check out our Disney Dining Reference Page or the “food allergies” section below for more.

3. Coordinate Dining with Park Hours, Early Theme Park Entry, and Extended Theme Park Hours
This is another research tip, and a great way to make your time at the Disney theme parks go much more smoothly. Disney World posts their park hours on their website six months in advance, and Disneyland posts park hours in advance as well. [Read more…]

Guest Review: Casey’s Corner

By AJ 22 Comments

A special thanks to Chef BigFatPanda for taking us into the Magic Kingdom with him for a meal at Casey’s Corner, a restaurant inspired by Ernest L. Thayer poem and Disney animated short, “Casey at the Bat!” Take it away, Chef!

Hello again, Chef BigFatPanda here with a review of Casey’s Corner in the Magic Kingdom! Facing Cinderella’s castle, Casey’s occupies the end left corner of Main Street. It’s fast food that can be summed up in one word “Hot Dogs”. Well, maybe that’s two words.

Atmosphere
Casey’s is reminiscent of a bygone era full of that “take me out to ballgame” feeling, which goes hand in hand with our American obsession with Hot Dogs (the word Frankfurter seems to be used less and less). The inside is decorated with baseball memorabilia on shelves, and a statue of [Read more…]

News: Italy Pizzeria, Cantina de San Angel Updates, & More

By AJ 9 Comments

Just wanted to share some news I heard recently from fellow blogger, Theme Park Mom. This is third-party info from someone “close to the source,” but I think it’s pretty exciting!

Cantina de San Angel Info
Mexico’s Cantina de San Angel, currently under demo and expansion in Epcot’s World Showcase, will re-emerge as a counter-service and table-service restaurant. But a bit of info that I didn’t know about is that the restaurant will be counter-service for lunch and half table-service, half counter-service, for dinner. (This will be helpful for those of you who, like me, are making up your Disney dining spreadsheets for your Food & Wine Festival trips!)

News on the Mysterious Imported Water
Also, word is that that mysterious “imported water” that will be used in the new Italy Pizzeria in Epcot will be trucked in from a location in the midwest where chemical analysis on the water has shown it to be extremely similar to the H2O found in Naples, Italy. I wonder where…

Diamond Horseshoe in WDW Open Temporarily
In Magic Kingdom food news, the Diamond Horseshoe will be open 3/27/10-4/7/10 from 5:00-9:00PM daily for an all-you-can-eat meal, including family-style platters of Saloon Salad (tossed mixed greens with strawberry vinaigrette dressing) and fare from the Ranchhand’s Feast (roasted turkey breast, carved beef and smoked pork loin with sides of seasonal vegetables, herb bread stuffing and macaroni and cheese). Sound familiar? Yep, this is basically an extension of Liberty Tree Tavern while the parks are mobbed for Spring Break. 🙂

Merchandise Coupons Available
Finally, through April 17th, 2010, when you dine at WDW quick service locations you’ll receive a coupon for 20% off merchandise at participating WDW locations*. (You must use your coupon between 9:00 AM to 12 PM to receive the discount.)

Participating locations:
* The Emporium or Mickey’s Star Traders at Magic Kingdom
* Mouse Gear at Epcot
* Mickey’s of Hollywood and Keystone Clothiers at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
* Island Mercantile at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
* World of Disney Store at Downtown Disney

Hat tip to WDWInfo.

Studio Catering Company Re-Opens With New Menu

By AJ 3 Comments

Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Studio Catering Company is open again and touting a completely new menu!

The quick-service restaurant opened today after a period of refurbishment and currently offers a menu of wraps and sandwiches, including: Pressed Tuscan Deli Sandiwich, Chicken Caesar Wrap, Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (YUM!), Turkey Club, Grilled Vegetable Sandwich, and Greek Salad.

Disney’s posted menus, which you can see over on StudiosCentral.com.

Disney Food Post Round-Up: March 21, 2010

By AJ 6 Comments

Lots happening on the Disney news front this week as we mourn Fess Parker, a man known for deeply affecting both the Disney and Food communities with his careers. In case you haven’t seen it, Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide features a wonderful write-up of Mr. Joseph’s dinner with the late Fess Parker during the 1992 Walt Disney World Village Wine Festival.

Before we start the round-up, here’s a reminder of a couple of Disney food-related news items:

The Wine and Dine Half Marathon and Mickey Halloween Family Fun Run 5K details and registration information have been announced.
Napa Rose is holding a Wine Pairing Dinner this Wednesday, hosted by the Napa Valley Vintners. Click on the link for reservation information.

And now, on to the Round-Up:

Main Street Gazette allows me to breathe a sigh of relief that Artist Point seems to be regaining some of the culinary expertise I’ve found lacking in my recent trips. Absolutely gorgeous food here!

Magical Kingdoms Disney Blog has a review of Walt’s — An American Restaurant in Disneyland Resort Paris. Food pics here from the adult menu, teenagers menu, and kids menu, so go take a look!

Inside John’s Locker (John, of course, being Mr. Owner’s Locker himself) shares the story of Olivia Farnsworth, the namesake of Olivia’s in Disney’s Old Key West Resort.

Dining With the Mouse has posted some mouth-watering food photos from her several Disneyland trips over the past few months. Definitely getting me excited for my DL trip in a month!

MousePlanet reports that Disneyland Chefs will be participating in demo events at area Bloomingdales Department Stores the weekend of March 24-26.

Chip and Co has a lovely article reviewing Disney World’s Biergarten…with a pretty funny icebreaker story to boot!

Watch Me Eat takes us back to Tangierine Cafe this week! We just can’t get enough!

Tasty Chomps visits the Fife and Drum Tavern in Epcot’s World Showcase. (Note/Warning: very close-up photo of a Turkey Leg if you’ve never seen one…)

The Daily Disney has one of my favorite recipes this week: Pop Century’s Fried Chicken! (Also love this Mickey’s Premium Bar antenna topper that theme park ranger DeWayne Bevil found…)

A Collection of Awesome Stuff

By AJ 10 Comments

Two of my favorite people sent me some very cool things recently, and I wanted to share them with you on this “freeform Saturday” post.

First of all, a beautiful food pic from James Chapman. This is Le Cellier‘s sausage and corn polenta appetizer, which is out of this world delicious. It’s just too pretty not to give it the spotlight. Thanks for Mickey-fying the plates, James — how did you know that Le Cellier’s butter balls are my favorite part of the meal?

Le Cellier Sausage and Corn Polenta Appetizer

And secondly, I wanted to share with you some “random observations” from Jeff Kocan‘s recent trip. They’re too witty not to print as-is:

Just random observations that I meant to bring up: [Read more…]

Special Report: S’PIN Cocktail for ESPN The Weekend

By AJ 8 Comments

Fellow blogger and friend Amanda Tinney, who writes Disney Every Day, came across this “extra” bar set up outside Hollywood Brown Derby during ESPN The Weekend — complete with a brand new adult bevvie created for the event — and caught it on film! Thanks, Amanda! ESPN The Weekend Sign

When you’re in the Walt Disney World theme parks as much as I am, you tend to notice when even the slightest thing is out of place. I recently attended “ESPN The Weekend” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and while making my way from the American Idol Experience towards The Animation Courtyard, I noticed something peculiar. A bar…outside of the Hollywood Brown Derby Restaurant, right on the walkway. As I moved closer, I noticed beer, along with assorted bottles of liquor….Wowza! This bar was no joke! And it was definitely [Read more…]

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