{ Disney World Inspired Recipe: The Grey Stuff }

"Ma chère mademoiselle. It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight. And now, we invite to relax, let us pull up a chair, as the dining room proudly presents... your dinner."  -Lumière

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my favorite things we did at Magic Kingdom was take in dessert at Be Our Guest restaurant. It is situated under the Beast's castle and is just so much fun.

We all (except Bean) chose a Master's Cupcake for our desserts. During lunch hours you can only get The Grey Stuff on top of a cupcake. If you go to dinner you can order just The Grey Stuff. It comes on a plate proclaiming, "Try the Grey Stuff!". The Master's Cupcake, however, is lovely. Not only does The Grey Stuff top it, the center is filled with it too. That's a GOOD thing. It's pretty delicious, right, Lumière?

It's a creamy, whipped, cookies and cream panna cotta, and it is divine! It's light and airy. Not too sweet, it's just delish.

Here's what the cupcake looked like.

The serving at night looks the same, sans the cupcake. Just a swirl of grey on your plate.

I'd of been perfectly happy without the cupcake, personally!

I've seen a lot of recipes for The Grey Stuff using pudding mix and Cool Whip. This is a true Panna Cotta recipe & I think you will be very surprised just how easy it is.

Making this should take you under 10 minutes not including chill time.

While quick and oh, so easy, Panna Cotta is a very decadent dessert consisting of nearly all heavy cream (so you know it's got to be good!). Give it a try. You won't need to ask the dishes either!

This is easily thick enough to top a cupcake. I did make this twice, once with half heavy cream and half 1/2 and 1/2. While I actually liked this flavor a little better, it wasn't thick enough to pipe. If you are going to serve it in a dish (and not try to unmold it like you would a panna cotta), it it great!

If you want to pipe it or unmold it, I suggest using all heavy cream.

As I'm sure Lumière would say- "C'est Magnifique!"



Ta for now,

To find out more about Be Our Guest and New Fantasyland, see my post here: New Fantasyland & Festival of Fantasy Parade.



The Grey Stuff
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

2 cups heavy cream*
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 packet unflavored gelatin
3 Tablespoons cold water
1 cup chocolate sandwich cookies (re: Oreos)- finely crushed
Sugar Pearls, optional.


Place 3 Tablespoons water in a large bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over and allow to 'bloom' for 5-10 minutes.

In a heavy saucepan, add 1/4 cup sugar to 2 cups heavy cream. Allow to heat until sugar is dissolved, but do not boil.

Once sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and add vanilla extract.

Pour the warm mixture over the gelatin and stir until dissolved.

Add crushed cookies to mixture and stir well.

Chill for at least 4 hours.

The cookies will fall to the bottom and create a sort of crust. You will need to stir the panna cotta create The Grey Stuff look. I used a whisk for a couple minutes. Return to fridge for 30 minutes. Pipe onto plates just before serving and garnish with sugar pearls.

*for a looser set (not for piping), use 1 cup Half and Half and 1 cup heavy cream. Serve in bowls.



Adapted from David Lebovitz

{ Disney World Tips: New Fantasyland & Festival of Fantasy Parade }

It's been 6 months since my trip. Did you think I was all done blogging about it?

I'm not. I'm not even sorry ;)

Since I did a very detailed post of The Magic Kingdom in 2012, this will just hit the new things since my last visit.

(Also, check out my earlier post from this year. It includes info on the Dining Plan, MagicBands, FastPass+ and more! Disney World Tips. Check out my EPCOT tips too!)

That includes all of the Enchanted Forest section of New Fantasyland, which was still behind walls when we were there, and The Festival of Fantasy Parade which debuted in March 2014.

This was our view of New Fantasyland last time:

They were just a few weeks from soft openings then, but we missed out. Oh well, we saw it all this time!

First we will tour New Fantasyland, then we'll watch the parade, savvy?

Let's go!

New Fantasyland: Enchanted Forest Attractions:
Be Our Guest Restaurant, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Gaston's Tavern, Bonjour! Village Gifts, Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train


This is really just covering the Enchanted Forest part of New Fantasyland. This area also includes Storybook Circus, which I will discuss, but don't have photos of.

The Enchanted Forest features two new castles. First, we see the Beast's:

You can't actually go up to this one, like you can Cinderella's castle, but I think it's pretty :) You can go 'inside' (aka under) only if you dine at Be Our Guest. (More info below)

Behind Ariel here is Prince Eric's castle:

Inside it you will find Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. This, as so many of Disney's rides are, is a dark ride. You'll board a clam shell and float through the story of The Little Mermaid. It features many of the songs from the movie.

I've heard many people aren't overly fond of this ride, but I thought it was super cute and lots of fun with the peppy music.

In Ariel's Grotto you can get photos and autographs with our favorite mermaid!

Nearby, you will find Gaston's Tavern

Here's Bean striking a Gaston in front of the tavern.

Gaston's has a short, but tasty menu. You can get

Foods:

Roasted Pork Shank ($9.79), Warm Cinnamon Roll ($4.19), Chocolate Croissant ($3.29), Hummus and Chips ($4.39), Sliced Apples with Caramel Sauce ($3.69), Mixed Veggie Cup with Dip ($3.99), Mixed Fruit Cut ($3.79)

Beverages:

LeFou's Brew ($4.99), LeFou's Brew in a Souvenier Stein (9.99), Hot Cocoa ($2.29), Hot Cocoa in a Souvenier Stein ($8.19), Coffee ($2.29), Sodas/Iced Tea/Lemonade ($2.99-3.29), Apple Juice ($2.59), Bottled Water ($2.50), Orange Juice ($3.79), Chocolate Milk/Milk/Soy Milk ($2.59)

The warm cinnamon roll is amazing! We tried the much debated LeFou's Brew. I've heard some people say it's awful, others say it's better than Butterbeer (blasphemy!). In the end, I didn't like it. Bean did. It's a kind of overly sweet apple juice with a marshmallow topping. Not a fan. No where near as good as Butterbeer in my humble opinion. Bean, as I said, liked it and drank it all, but he agrees it's not up to Butterbeer par.

Although it was near 100 degrees, the Girl, a hardcore cocoa lover, had some, and declared it devine!.

The tavern is super fun with little touches like this

Around the other side of the tavern you can find (and sit upon!) Gaston's chair.

We really liked Gaston's and will visit again.


One of the most charming areas is nothing more than a bathroom area! What?

Yes, Rapunzel's tower overlooks a 'floating' lantern display that is just outside the bathrooms. I found the area lovely & really, really hope they do more in the Tangled theme beyond a set of loos.

At Enchanted Tales with Belle you can join Belle & Lumière as they retell the 'tale as old as time'.

Now, to one of my favorite moments in The Enchanted Forest: Be Our Guest! Be Our Guest takes place at the Beast's Castle (technically UNDER it). Be Our Guest is a quick service credit for lunch and a table credit for dinner (refer to my earlier post for more info on the Disney Dining Plan). We actually didn't eat lunch here. My party is a little too picky for the selections. You MUST make reservations for BoG.

The menu here consists of:

French Onion Soup ($5.49), Potato Leek Soup ($5.29), Tuna Nicoise Salad ($13.99), Braised Pork ($12.99), Carved Turkey Sandwhich ($11.49), Carved Prime Chuck Roast Beef Sandwhich ($12.49), Quinoa Salad ($10.49), Croque Monsieur ($11.49), Vegetable Quiche ($9.49).

The Master's Cupcake ($4.19), Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcake ($4.19), Triple Chocolate Cupcake ($4.19) Lemon Meringue Cupcake ($4.19), Chocolate Cream Puff ($4.19), Eclaire a l'Orange ($4.19)

Assorted drinks from $1.79-3.25

You can also get the Souvenir Castle Goblet which lights up for $16.99. Fair warning, this is HUGE and they will not allow you to send it back to your room. If you buy it early in the day, you'll be carrying it all day. Darla bought one and had to deal with the thing all day. :( It a super fun cup though!

We only went to BoG for desserts! We all had The Master's Cupcake except Bean. He had the Triple Chocolate Cupcake. He said it was too rich for his liking, but the rest of us LOVED our Master's Cupcake! It's a chocolate cupcake topped with 'the grey stuff': a cookies and cream panna cotta. Lumière wasn't lying when he said the gray stuff was delicious!

When you go in, they will ask you which room you want to sit in. We chose the forbidden West Wing.

This room is dark and 'scary' with thunder, lightening, and ripped tapestries, and paintings.

The Ballroom is grand, open, large, and quite noisy actually.

Make sure you pay attention to the windows in the Grand Ballroom. It snows!

The Rose Gallery is smaller and quieter than the Ballroom. It's bright and pretty with lots of paintings and the large music box.

These are a few other photos from around the castle (please remember these are all photos from my phone, sorry!)

This is the area where you place your order. Here you order yourself at kiosks, then you are seated. You food is then brought to your table.

These guys greet you as you enter

Another statue from outside

The lovely stained glass

Bean in front of the Ballroom

I love, love loved Be Our Guest! Getting cupcakes there will definitely be a tradition!

The newest ride at the Magic Kingdom is The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This is a family sized coaster. You queue through the mine, then board mine carts for a zipping ride around the tracks. There is a section of the ride that takes you back inside the mine where you'll see the dwarfs working and singing Hi Ho. It was a fun ride, but by Disney standards very short. We rode this via a FastPass. I would have been disappointed if I'd stood in line an hour to ride it, but it was fun.

New Fantasyland: Storybook Circus Attractions:
Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Barnstormer, Casey Jr. Splash 'n Soak Station, Pete's Silly Sideshow, Big Top Souvenirs, Fantasyland Station


Now, to Storybook Circus. We didn't actually spend time in this section during this trip. It was actually open on our last trip.

The Barnstormer is a Jr coaster for the little guys, It looks like an airplane and you follow in the path flown by The Great Goofini!

Dumbo the Flying Elephant is a classic. Here's the Bean on it in 2012. Dumbo went from one ride, to two identical rides in this re-vamp.

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station is a fun place for little ones to cool off. Casey Jr. the train from Dumbo and various animal statues spray water for soggy fun!

Pete’s Silly Sideshow is where you can meet various Disney characters inside one of the Big Top tents!

Finally, there is a new station here for the train, the Fantasyland Station!


Now for the parade!

The Festival of Fantasy Parade

I'm actually, honestly, sorry to say... *whispers* not much a parade person. I know this is not an opinion shared by most, but I'd rather ride rides!

I was very excited to see this new parade though, it looked like a lot of fun.

I had a great location, until Tall Man decided to stand in front of me. I wormed my way around until I found another location, squished up next to a light post in front of Columbia Harbor House. There were lots of magnificent creatures down on the ground, but I couldn't really see them because of all of the people in front of me (I was standing in an elevated location). If you'd like to see more photos, I highly, highly, highly recommend these posts by Jen at Epbot: Post One, Post Two, Post Three.

That's all from New Fantasyland... for now. Soon I'll be making one of my favorite, favorite treats from there. I'm sure it won't take long to figure out what that is.

It's delicious, I didn't even have to ask the dishes! (Now posted: The Grey Stuff)

Ta for now,