Pasteleria Ideal is one of Mexico City’s historic bakeries near the Zócalo.

The place is pure pandemonium as the baker’s assistants roll out new baked confections and the customers surge on the carts grabbing the warm pastries before they even make it to the shelves.Standard procedure is to grab a tray and a set of tongs and select your sugar rush for the day. Upstairs is the cookie shop plus what one site describes as ‘a museum of sugar’. There are all sorts of speciality cakes for all occasions and it really should be recommended as one of Mexico City’s sights!Wedding cakes abound.The biggest one!
This hefty wedding cake weighs in at 110 kg and it comes in several versions: Mermelada (Jam); Fruta c. Chantilly (Fruit with Cream) and Fruit con Nuez (Fruit with Nuts).Speaking of weighing in, this ‘Luchas Libres’ (Masked Mexican Wrestlers) cake is only 8 kg but packs a punch! And there are tons of other cakes.The Pasteleria Ideal has no place to eat inside so you will have to picnic in a park if you want to get your teeth into their pastries. For fresh-squeezed juice to go try one of the many Jugos Canada scattered around the center. 

Another historic bakery in the Zona Historica is La Vasconia, which has been producing pastries since 1870. The pastry selection process is the same as at Pastelería Ideal, but this is more of a restaurant with tables to enjoy your pastries along with café con leche and fresh-squeezed orange juice, and they also have other menu items such as eggs and even roast chickens from their in-house Rosticeria.

This is my favourite place for breakfast in the city. Our breakfast selection at La Vasconia on Day 1 was an almond/chocolate croissant, a fig Danish, a custard/jam Danish, and a nut twist.Another bakery worth mentioning is Esperanza, a local Mexico City chain with a great selection of pastries, coffee, sandwiches and juice at slightly lower prices than the two others mentioned here. There is seating here if you decide to eat in but it’s a tad uncomfortable and not designed to encourage lingering.

Bakeries near Mexico City’s Zocalo.

More of Jennifer Nichole Wells’ One Word Challenge: Pastry.