Foodie Field Trip- Main Street Cafe and Bakery

Ohhhhhhhh cake. I have such a love affair with cake you just cannot imagine. On the heels of the cupcake bakery boom our city is seeing an uptick in bakeries, many serving lunches and dinner and I am having all sorts of fun exploring them. Everyone knows my almost-sister Jessica and I have our little "thing" we do- thrift shop for a weird variety of goodies that The Chef thinks I don't need (but honestly, I DO need more cookbooks and doilies and teacups and unusual knives and.........) and then we grab a bite to eat, and many times this is centered around what we might have afterwards for dessert. One recent Saturday, after a trip to a thrift store in Ankeny that didn't result in many great discoveries we decided we needed something to cheer us up- cake. 

Ankeny has been growing my leaps and bounds in the last several years and entire new section of town had sprung up- like a town center all by itself with loads of houses and apartments and new schools, new shopping and of course, new restaurants. It's in one of these little districts that the Main Street Cafe and Bakery can be found. Don't let the drive thru menu outside fool you- what you find inside is so much more than cheapo drive thru food. The menu is large but not overwhelmingly so. Lots of salads, sandwiches, burgers and a few pastas give you lots to choose from. There are ten daily soups- yes ten! 

My first visit to Main Street was so delicious. Jessica had been there before but I had not, obviously, and had no idea what to expect. She warned me there would be cake. Ohhhhh Lord she wasn't kidding. The entire counter was lined end to end with beautiful cakes. Chocolate, carrot, lemon,red velvet, grasshopper, so many, but the ones that caught our attention were the Chocolate Raspberry Cake and the Almond Cake. We ordered dinner- we'll get to that in a bit, and a slice of cake each so we could share. Now the chocolate cake was decadent, rich fudgy truffle-like frosting and moist cake layered with sweet raspberry filling. Three amazing layers of chocolate heaven. As wonderful and swoon-inducing as this cake was, it was nowhere near as sublime as the almond cake. One bite and the words wedding cake popped into both of our minds. Moist and tender white cake with a lovely vanilla and almond essence layered with almond buttercream. Ho.Ly.Heck. 

Like I said, we did actually order dinner before the cake, and it was fantastic. We both ordered a Frisco burger- juicy burger, Swiss and Cheddar, caramelized onions, signature sauce sandwiched between slices of sourdough coated in butter and Parmesan cheese. Crispy crust on the bread, super juicy burger and the sauce was awesome. I had a choice of side and went with a salad with Blue Cheese dressing- perfect partner. Plus.......it left room for cake!!  

On our second visit we knew to go easier on the dinner order and save room for the cake!!! This time around I had the Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup, which came to the table steaming hot, full of chunky chicken, corn, black beans, tortilla strips, all drizzled with crema. One of the best soups I have ever had in a restaurant. Jessica ordered grilled chicken strips with steamed broccoli and it looked amazing. The broccoli was so fresh!

So, again, we had cake. Jessica chose the coconut cake and I had KitKat Cake. The coconut cake was a snowy dream of vanilla cake and toasted coconut, creamy buttercream, promises of heaven and love and angels' wings. The KitKat Cake was another sky high chocolate masterpiece of luscious chocolate cake layers, milk chocolate buttercream, dark chocolate drizzle and miniature KitKats. Yum yum yum yum YUM. I kinda liked it, in case you were wondering. 

The cake keeps calling me back, and on my most recent visit, we met just for dessert. Jessica chose the almond cake again and I went with a raspberry almond cake. I keep going back for the raspberry cakes! Wow. Heavenly layers of golden vanilla cake layered with a swirled buttercream and raspberry jam. Sprinkled with slices of toasted almond and swirls of that creamy buttercream. Just wow. This might be my favorite of all the cakes I have tried here!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Foodie Field Trip- Girlfriend Day in Pella

There is nothing like finding that awesome friend that you really connect with. My friend Katie is that friend. Not only do we work together but our home lives are nearly mirror images of the other's. Work, family, kids, and life as a chef wife. We understand the crazy schedules and cranky behavior and other oddities that our other friends don't get. Makes for some fun conversations, lots of cheerleading and venting and best of all- sharing adventures. On a recent Saturday we decided to hit the road for a short road trip and set our sites on Pella, Iowa. Less than an hour away it was a great drive, beautiful weather and not jam packed with tourists like during Pella's Tulip Time celebration. We didn't exactly have the town o ourselves but it wasn't so bad.

Arriving in Pella we already knew a couple of stops on our agenda- the bakeries, but before that we wanted to visit a few other shops and stroll around. The first place we visited was an antique shop right on the square. Like the usual antique shop it was packed with memories. Different items caught our eyes- Katie was drawn to antique jewelry and unique toys, vintage coffee cups and dishes,  while I was awestruck by an old gas stove, old canning jars galore, and dishes and cookbooks. 

After the antique shop we hit a Hallmark store. I hadn't been in a Hallmark store in decades! Here I grabbed a few candles and a set of small dishes. Cute and best of all- on clearance. A little walking and window shopping and we were thinking about lunch. The Windmill Cafe looked like a great place to stop so we headed in. It was a nice small town place, with a varied menu. We both chose a gyro- strange choice in a Dutch town but it was so delicious. They had the best fries I've had in forever. 

Patryk is the cutest lunch date in the world!

With lunch out of the way, we got down to business- the bakeries. Pella has two incredible bakeries with a huge assortment of delicious baked goods to tempt you. We were tempted- and we succumbed. Cookies, macaroons, cakes, coffee cake, handmade bread, we each bought a fun assortment of goodies.

Snuggled in between the bakeries is the Ulrich Meat Market- the place to go for genuine Pella Bologna. Like an old time butcher shop you can get all sorts of great meat items here. We also wandered around a cute little coffee shop/store hoping not to spend too much money. 

Driving around Pella is also a treat, so many beautiful buildings and gardens, even when it's not tulip season, the town is quaint and friendly. We will definitely be making the trip again.