The Best Bakery in the Burbs

WARNING - if you are hungry, stop reading right now or you will end up eating more junk food than you ever should after reading this. Are you sure you are not hungry? Not craving a taste of something sweet? Okay then, we shall begin.

Oh, the joy of a Busy Bee Sprinkle Doughnut. And that Doughnut deserves the capital "D" for sure. I have to say, I am a fan of round baked goods with holes in the middle. Except for angel food cake. Then again, are doughnuts even technically considered baked goods if they are actually fried? But I digress. These Doughnuts are the best I have ever had. If you think Dunkin Donuts are good, please wake up and smell the proverbial coffee (which is pretty darn good at that store) and try a treat from a local bakery. If you are anywhere near Downers Grove, Illinois, you must go to Busy Bee Bakery on Main Street. But beware - although Doughnuts are a favorite Sunday treat, Busy Bee is CLOSED on Sundays (and Mondays)! So we must purchase extra treats on Saturdays, and they still taste lovely on Sunday.

I must admit, we currently in our house at this very moment have a lovely little chocolate layer cake from this very bakery in our fridge, half eaten. Yesterday was out 8th wedding anniversary, and as a present to us I picked up a Busy Bee cake. Now, since my husband was of course going to be eating this, I got one that is just chocolate cake with a bit of fudge filling and whipped cream frosting as he prefers no fruit in his cake. But this cake is so incredibly moist yet with just the right amount of crumb that it is hard to call it "just" a chocolate cake. Oh so yum. And it has no nutritional information on the package so I interpret that to mean it has no calories. Perhaps that is the only way to justify eating a piece at 10pm! Did I really just admit to that? Oops...

My most favorite of cakes from Busy Bee is, however, much more exciting than just chocolate. The atomic cake is so fantastic it is hard to believe you can really stop after one piece. But that is a testament to how good it is - you can eat one piece of this and feel so amazingly sweetly satisfied that there is no need to (quite literally) weigh yourself down by going back for more. Here's the dish on it: The atomic cake begins with a bottom layer of banana cake, topped with a layer of banana custard filling (yes, they make it fresh). Top that with a layer of chocolate cake. Then strawberry filling. Then yellow cake. Then surround the entire thing with the most luscious whipped cream frosting (that is so much better than buttercream, I think) and to be honest, there might be some fudge in there somewhere too.

And I have not even started on the cookies, coffee cakes, assorted pastries, breads, and everything else they make. This wonderful round loaf of cinnamon bread that makes divine french toast and is equally good toasted with a dab of butter. The cherry (or apricot, or blueberry) bread that is an absolute treat. Oh, and I can't leave out the pumpkin spice doughnut holes available in the fall only!

As you can imagine, I could go on and on. I think, in fact, I just did. And after I sign off of the computer I have to walk past the kitchen that has a refrigerator with cake inside. I shall not turn on the light. I shall not even think about opening the fridge again. So I will conclude with a plea to you all, should you ever be within the vicinity of Main Street in downtown Downers Grove, please stop in at Busy Bee Bakery. Just make sure you are there early, as when things are gone for the day, they are gone. My sprinkle Doughnuts are usually gone by 10am on Saturdays. Gives a person a whole new reason to get up early on the weekend!