There was a time when I considered the Boardwalk Bakery a place to get coffee in the morning, and maybe a muffin. That’s it.

Let me assure you, fellow Mousejunkie, it us much more than that. How blind I have been.

I attended a tasting of several Walt Disney World restaurants tonight at the Grand Floridian. Citricos, Artist Point, Kouzzina, Sanaa and Flying Fish were among those represented. Oh, and the Boardwalk Bakery.

I put off visiting the Boardwalk Bakery’s table, figuring it would be coffee and croissants. Instead, I started with Artist Point, which served venison on something white. Polenta or potatoes or something. They served a paired wine with each sample, so cut me some slack.

The venison was not gamey at all, and had a sweet berry sauce drizzled over it. It’s not something I would have considered ordering in the past, but as of this moment, I say slice me off a chunk of Bambi and back up.

I next decided to sidle on up to the Citricos table, where they were serving a tiny quail’s egg, soft boiled, on top of a crouton with bacon and forest mushrooms. How do you spell that thing where your eyes roll back in your head and you kind of go, “Auughggughhghhuuuuughhhh…” ? Well, that’s what it was like. The quail egg tasted strong, but blended perfectly with the bacon and crouton. I have to admit I picked the mushrooms off – I’m not a big fan of mushrooms, but my traveling companion, Kevin, said they had quite a smokey flavor.

Eggy, bacony goodness.

We tore through a few other selections – high points being the fried grouper from the Flying Fish, but eventually it came time to throw a little attention to the thus-far-inconsequential Boardwalk Bakery.

It was then that I realized what I had been missing at this beautiful baking bonanza. I opted for the strawberry dumpling: A sliced strawberry wrapped in a warm, creamy dough, rolled in a graham crust and sprinkled with sugar. As I type this, my vision is beginning to blur. I believe I have the vapors. I think I need a moment.

I have returned. It was sweet, but not sickeningly so. It was warm throughout, and the sugar created a light crust across the top of this spherical confection perfection. The graham crust clung to the soft doughy outer shell, holding it all together.

Yum.

Until now, the best dessert I’ve ever eaten was the apple crumble cheesecake at Tony’s in the late 90s. Sadly, it’s no longer available.

Now, however, the strawberry dumpling has replaced it. I’m going to take a run over to the Boardwalk sometime this week to see if it’s now available on the menu. Consider it a service, as it were.