Exploring Disneyland's culinary delights: Dole Whip, beignets, and more

You just have to have confidence and you can down one of those bad boys in minutes. Food is my true passion. I'm Gemma Stafford, a professional chef and host of Bigger Bolder Baking. So that means great food is a huge part of my everyday life. You've seen me boldly bake over the top recipes. Now travel with me on In this episode of Gemma Eats, my culinary adventures around the world. I'm at the original Disneyland in California, enjoying Disneyland's take on some traditional treats, cooling down with a famous frozen dessert, and going to town with this savory beast, while even trying a delightful sweet with a very strange name. All right now on Gemma Eats. Welcome to Disneyland California. I'm really excited to be here with Olivia Crouppen. Hi, everybody. Olivia is my culinary assistant. She is my eating buddy, And she also was on MasterChef. So here's what we did. We asked everybody on social media where should we eat at Disneyland and we got a huge amount of requests. Lots of different things, ice creams, all sorts of different stuff. So we have our phone. Olivia's going to check social media. I have a map and we are going to hunt down some really great things to eat. So let's go. Let's go. They don't call this the happiest place on earth for nothing. Whether it's your first time or 51st, the sights and sounds of this park are always magical. And of course, this is one big and bold wonderland for eats of all shapes and sizes. Their colorful candy and confections alone could keep someone busy and full for quite some time. But we had our first stop in mind, just a little further into the park to New Orleans Square and the Cafe Orleans for a Monte Cristo sandwich. I've never had one before. Have you had one before? I've never had one. No. Never. I love a Monte Cristo but I haven't had one in years. And I've never had one at Disneyland. I'm just a little bit dubious about the sugar on top. Like to me, I like my sweet sweet and my savoury savoury, I'm just wondering is that a little bit too much. That's fair. That's fair. But we'll still find out. And if I don't like it I'll just eat a whole big bowl of fries. True. I haven't been to Disneyland in over 15 years, so you have a few times on me. It's exactly how I remembered, but I can't remember any of the food, so I'm really excited to be eating. That's all I can remember is the food. So when I was a kid, we used to go as a family to Disney World in Florida. It was like seven of us, sometimes even like eight or nine of us, and it was such a blast. We rented out a house and there was a pool there. The weather was like nothing we had experienced before being Irish. And the amusement parks are like nothing I've ever seen. If I came here from Ireland, it's hot, it's sunny, people are out eating all kinds of street food. Yeah, it's crazy. And it's the epitome of American food. Yeah, and that's awesome to us because it's something we just don't know. There's so many things. The corndogs? What is a corndog? What is a corndog? I find out later, it's something delicious that I probably shouldn't be eating, but it's delicious. Gorgeous. Thank you. Oh my god. Oh my lord. Check that out. That is a deep-fried sandwich. That's not a sandwich. That's a monster. That is a sandwich that has been breaded and deep-fried. Did you know it was deep-fried? I didn't know it was deep-fried. Look, wait a second now. Olivia, we're not all that fast. Let's check out our vegetable. Oh. Just some healthy garlic fries. Oh my god, the smell is insanity. Okay, let's dig into the sandwich. Are you ready for this? Cheers. I am. I was born ready. Your first Monte Cristo. Oh my god. Do you know what this is? Ridiculous. This is a donut with ham and cheese in the middle. That's what this is. Hence the powdered sugar. Sugar. Mm-hmm. Honestly... It's like the cheese melts into the donut and they become one. They also give you a little bit of jelly here. This is the black currant jam. Yeah that works for me. You know what it's like now? A jelly donut with ham and cheese in the middle. No. I legit like this. I just can't imagine now like how do you go back to a normal sandwich? Once you've had a deep fried sandwich, how do you go back? It's all downhill from here. It's all downhill or up. Don't forget your fries, don't forget your vegetables. Don't forget your fries. One of your five a day. Oh, we need to be doing some of this. Look at this. Can we just talk about all the... Look at the garlic and parmesan. I am uncovering. Oh my lord. Oh my gosh, look at all that garlic. I'll do what I can. So, Jem, it looks like everyone is talking about these beignets. And we're in New Orleans, so I'm thinking they're pretty close. Yep. Right around the corner. Really? Yeah. So, Jem, we're in New Orleans. We're in New Orleans. We're in New Orleans. We're in New Orleans. We're in New Orleans. We're in New Orleans. We're in New Orleans. I'm thinking they're pretty close. Yeah. Right around the corner. Really? Yeah. I think we should go because I can't stop eating those fries. I'm saving room. I'm saving some room. I can't stop eating those fries. Let's go. Just around the corner is the Mint Julep Bar, famous for their Mickey Mouse shaped beignets. In this bag you'll find doughy, sugary, sweet bits of goodness featuring everyone's favorite mouths. Go on Liv, dig in while they're still warm. It is time for my very first beignet. I can't believe you never had one. Oh my gosh! Aren't they sweet? Look at him! It's like you got a baby one. Mine's like a big mommy one. They're adorable. It's adorable. So beignets are pretty much very similar to donuts and they're definitely something that you find in New Orleans a lot that's why they're here in the New Orleans Square. Aren't they yummy? So good. Do you think they taste better because they're Mickey Mouse? I think it tastes better because it's covered in powdered sugar. I'm starting to think that a beignet could be very closely related to a Monte Cristo sandwich. I have to say though, I've never been to New Orleans, but I'm liking your guys' style. I would definitely, I would do well in that town. I think we might need to visit. I have a good idea. I am thinking next, I'm getting a lot about Dole Whip. Dole Whip? Dole Whip. Have you had Dole Whip before? No. Another first. You're in for a treat. Dole Whip is awesome. It was killing me not to ride any of the rides yet but I had more eats to find. Near the entrance to Adventureland is the Dole Whip Stand and the line is usually really long but I have a secret for you. Okay so come here, I'm going to tell you the secret. When you come to the Dole Whip Stand, you see these arches here? Go through there and you can actually get served on the other side. So don't stand in that big queue like a chump, we're going to go get ours, skip the line. There was no one in line on the other side which means we got this frozen treat so much faster. Look at that. I'm excited for you Olivia because you haven't tried this before. So let me know what you think. Okay here goes. I'd just like for everybody to know that it is 100 degrees here in Disneyland today. So something like this, you have to have. It's a necessity. It tastes just like a pineapple, but with the consistency of the creamiest froyo you've ever had. You're right, you nailed it. It's delicious. It's like pineapple ice cream. And it is cooling me down. Yeah, I know. So actually, I don't know if you know this Olivia, but I made this before on Bigger Bolder Baking because I came down here on a trip one time with Kevin, I had it for the first time ever, and I thought to myself, I have to make this. Oh my god. Because you can only get it at Disneyland, right? Yeah, I've never seen it anywhere else. Yeah, everybody should experience Dole Whip. So it's only a few ingredients, blend up some pineapple, it's really easy, it's absolutely delicious. It's delicious. Mmm. I have to say though, there's definitely something... Being here today in Disneyland, 100 degrees, I definitely appreciate it right now. What work did you ask for? Creamy, it's delicious, it's awesome, I love this. This is clearly finished, should we head to our next spot? Yep, let's do it. Let's go. So it was definitely time to take a break from eating. Now even though it was ridiculously hot, we just had to go on some rides. No matter how old you are, Disneyland makes you feel like a kid again. And of course we found a few great eats along the way. This is the next thing that we're going to stop at, and this is one of the reasons why I love Disneyland. Yeah? See right behind me? Oh no. There's these carts everywhere and they sell churros, hot dogs, corn dogs, and my absolute most favorite thing ever, and I think yours too. Turkey legs. Turkey legs. As big as your head, turkey legs. We gotta go get one. Let's do it. Look. It's like a bouquet of turkey. Honestly? Oh, oh, I'm getting this. I'm taking this. Oh. Sorry Liv. I don't know, like forget the beignets, the Monte Cristo, this is where it's at. Eat up it there. When I used to come to Disney World as a kid with my family, every single one of us used to order a turkey leg and we would demolish it, like the whole thing, and we were only like six, seven, eight years old, every single one of us, and still to this day, if you say to my dad, Disneyland or Disney World, the first thing he talks about are the turkey legs. You don't forget a thing like that in a hurry. To me, what this is all about is like fall off the bone, like shreddy, smoky. Yeah. Got a big chunk, oh look at it, see, get in here now, let me show you why I love this so much. See that? It just falls apart and it's smoked as well for extra flavor. My favorite bit is the part that's been like really, really caramelized almost to the point of burnt. Yeah. Like the crispy. Sometimes they call that the bark. Mmm, the crispy bark. It's the bit on the outside, yeah. If it's that good, you shouldn't need anything else. And that's like this, it doesn't need anything, no seasoning, no sauce, no special extra, it's just. Gourmet turkey leg. So since we'd already filled up on something savory, we decided to go for a delicious sweet treat. The Red Rose Tavern is inspired by the film Beauty and the Beast. This place feels like a storybook come to life. And we were told that this is where you could find the great stuff. We got a lot of requests to come here. I think it's kind of crazy. It is white chocolate mousse with red velvet cake and a raspberry center. But what it looks like from the pictures online, it is like a grey kind of coal-y, charcoal-y kind of looking thing. So I'm actually really excited to try it because it looks interesting and awesome. I love red velvet. I love raspberry, and I love white chocolate. And I love desserts. And I love desserts. Okay, Grey Stuff Cake, let's see what's inside. Oh my god. You ready for this? I'm so ready. What's in there, Liv? Look at that! Oh, it's a cake! It's like a red velvet cake. Okay, so it's like red velvet, raspberry, and clearly this is like a grey white chocolate mousse. How does it taste? Yum. Yum? Mmm. Mmm. Oh, it's yummy. Mmm. Mmm. The mousse. It's delicious. Um, it was so funny. We kept on getting messages on Facebook and on Instagram to go eat Grey Stuff and I had to say to somebody, what are you talking about? Where is Grey Stuff? Then she told me. Like the name doesn't really do it justice. I know I sound surprised but this is really yummy. Good call. All the bites too are getting different. Like now I'm getting bits of raspberry and the candies. These little guys, I know what they are. but they're awesome. Crunchy crispy. We had our vegetables today. We had the potatoes. We had our fruit which was the Dole Whip. And there was some grapes with the Monte Cristo. If grape stuff was one of your five a day we'd have them all ticked off. Certainly worth it. I don't know about you but I am so full. Stop laughing at me, I'm stuffed! I know, don't me do, I am too, I'm stuffed. And to be fair, do you know what, we had a huge list of things coming here. We didn't even get to half of them. True. So you're an awesome eating buddy. I like that you love to eat everything. But we're just going to have to come back and do it all over again. Thank you so much, thank you guys so much for having me. You're welcome. Disneyland's eats aren't stuffy or pretentious. They're simply about fun. They're about transporting you to another place, time or even age. At the end of the day it's about remembering that magical feeling and bringing it with you wherever you go and wherever you eat.