Top Spots For Holiday Treats In Philadelphia
Cupcakes, cookies, candies and more. The holiday season is the perfect time for indulging in sweet treats. CBS Philly brought you a list of Top Spots For Edible Holidays Gifts last year. This year's list features more goodies that make wonderful gifts, party desserts and tasty morsels to enjoy while out celebrating the holidays in Philadelphia.
Bredenbeck's Bakery (Credit, Michelle Hein)
Bredenbeck's Bakery and Ice Cream Parlor
8126 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19118
(215) 247-7374
www.bredenbecks.com
This charming Chestnut Hill spot is a Philadelphia tradition dating back over 130 years. With beautifully decorated cookies, festive cupcakes, pastries, tarts, breads and cakes, the family-run bakery is always a holiday favorite. Make your Christmas gathering extra special with a yule log cake. Available in two sizes, this cake serves either eight to 10 or 15 to 18 people. The brandy-laced vanilla sponge cake has a chocolate buttercream filling and is frosted with chocolate icing. Meringue mushrooms and decorative holly leaves add the finishing touches. For those who love the classic gingerbread, Bredenbeck's offers gingerbread people and gingerbread houses, both decorated and undecorated. Sign up for a gingerbread house workshop for a unique family activity or date night. Gingerbread houses, frosting and other decorative goodies are provided for guests to create their own masterpiece. And with shipping available to anywhere in the United States, you can give holiday cookies from Bredenbeck's to everyone on your gift list.
Related: Top Bakeries In Philadelphia
Flying Monkey Bakery
Reading Terminal Market
51 N. 12th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 928-0340
www.facebook.com/FlyingMonkeyPhilly
Visiting Reading Terminal Market during the holidays is a no-brainer. There's nowhere else in the city where you can buy local produce, the freshest meats and seafood, unique handmade gifts and decadent desserts, all while enjoying a hot meal and interacting with a 500-square-foot model holiday railroad display. When you're there, be sure to visit Flying Monkey Bakery. Known for its creative whoopie pies, s'mores and cupcakes, there are so many treats that the family will enjoy this time of year. For a Philadelphia classic, pick up a few squares of buttercake. And for a real showstopper, try the Pummple. This unique dessert was recently featured by Food & Wine Magazine as a new way to eat pie. The double-layer cake consists of a pumpkin pie within a chocolate cake that is then topped with an apple pie within a vanilla cake. A rich vanilla buttercream completes the concoction. While you can stop and order a slice during the holiday season, the bakery requires notice of 72 hours for a whole Pummple.
Christmas Village (Credit, Michelle Hein)
John & Kira's Gourmet Chocolate Gifts
Christmas Village
Love Park (JFK Plaza)
1500 Arch St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(800) 747-4808
www.johnandkiras.com
One of Philadelphia's favorite holiday attractions, the Christmas Village features over 60 wooden booths in the tradition of a German Christmas market. Chocolate shop John & Kira's will be joining the Christmas Village for the first time this year. Since opening their business in 2000, John Doyle and Kira Baker-Doyle have been dedicated to producing artisanal chocolates in a socially conscious way. Ingredients are sourced from sustainable, family-owned local farms. Since the chocolates are typically only available in select farm markets and shops and by phone or online order, it's a special treat to see them at the Christmas Village this year. Visitors will find an assortment of John & Kira's favorite hand-crafted chocolates as well as a few new holiday exclusive items such as chocolate-dipped pretzels stuffed with caramel and special hot chocolate spoons. And also for the first time, the Christmas Village will be open through New Year's Day this year, giving families an extra week to enjoy the festivities.
Scoop DeVille
1315 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 988-9992
www.scoopdeville.com
If you missed Scoop DeVille on Chestnut Street after its change in ownership and location over the past year, be sure to check out its Midtown Village spot. Here, you can still find creative frozen treats and seasonal goodies. Perfect for a small gift, the chocolate-covered Oreos are one of the most popular treats this year. Each box includes four Oreo cookies that have been dipped in chocolate and topped with holiday edibles. Holiday gift towers and trays and an assortment of holiday-themed candies and chocolates make gift giving and parties easy. Pick up a few tasty gifts and treat yourself as well. This friendly ice cream parlor will offer a selection of seasonal milkshakes for the holiday season as well.
Related: Top Philadelphia Ice Cream Shops
110 Market St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 922-1048
www.shanecandies.comA visit to Shane Confectionery feels a bit like going back in time. While this store has changed hands a few times since its start in 1863, it's the United States' oldest continuously-run confectionery. After 90 years of being run by the Shane family, Barry Shane transitioned ownership to the Berley Brothers (of the popular Franklin Fountain) in 2010. The Berley Brothers have worked tirelessly to restore the beautiful building and the equipment to its prime. The majority of the candies continue to be made on site, with a focus on old-fashioned quality and locally sourced ingredients. Along with Christmas-themed bulk candies such as molded chocolates and candy canes, house-made Christmas specialties include peppermint bark, sugar plums, peppermint marshmallows and gingerbread spice butter creams. Perhaps the most famous of the Christmas treats is the clear toy candy. Made in the tradition of the German candy, these brightly colored hard candies are made by hand using molds formed in Philadelphia 100 years ago.
Head to Philadelphia's Best Of pages for more local tips on family fun, shopping, nightlife, food, culture and more!
Michelle Hein is a copy editor for a women's fashion company in Bucks County by day and a self-proclaimed food and drink fanatic by night and weekend. She enjoys attending wine classes, trying new recipes in the kitchen and going to old favorites and new restaurants alike in the Bucks County and Philadelphia area. If the writing gig doesn't pan out, she constantly dreams of owning her own bakery...perhaps connected to the restaurant/bar that her lawyer boyfriend would love to open.
