Last June, we tried to recreate the delicious bread that we had at The Bubble Room on Captiva Island. Chica came up with this delicious recipe and we have been enjoying it ever since. However, her post generated a lot of comments on what exactly those “secret” ingredients are. In particular, there was much discussion as to whether or not the recipe contained blue cheese. So, since we happen to be in Sanibel on vacation this week anyway, and in the interest of all things scientific, we forced ourselves to return to the Bubble Room yesterday and order some Bubble Bread to go. We rushed back to our condo with our three original slices to start the taste testing.
Guess what? There is blue cheese in the mix. The taste is very faint. So faint, we didn’t even remember it being there the last time. Usually, blue cheese stands up and says a loud hello when included in a recipe, but this particular ratio just leaves a pleasant tang on your tongue afterward. Humbled but undaunted, we set to work mixing, baking, testing and mixing, baking, testing again and again until we arrived at this recipe. Which, according to our large table of testers last night at dinner, tastes exactly like the original Bubble Bread.
The “Original” Bubble Bread
- Italian bread
- 1/4 cup butter, softened (not margarine)
- 1 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- pinch of pepper
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- paprika
- chopped parsley for garnish
Split loaf of Italian bread lengthwise. Mix butter, blue cheese, mayo, pepper, Swiss cheese, and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan together in a bowl. Spread liberally on split loaf of Italian bread. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese on top.
Sprinkle with a bit of paprika and parsley for color. Broil until golden brown.
We all tasted it and we think we nailed it. Readers, let us know what you think. Did we get it this time?
42 comments so far:
Do you happen to have the receipe for their 3 stooges pasta and chicken dinner? We just got back from Sanibel on Saturday.
Sorry Sheila, but we’ve never had that dish. We just got the bread this time
Mmm, Sanibel is great, isn’t it?
This recipe is “OFF the CHARTS” Yummy!!!!!!!
I bought everything I needed and it was just wonderful! I let my daughter try it and now she wants the recipe. She could not believe how great it was. I have never been to the Bubble Room but you have a great recipe. Thank you so much!
Pattyjo
Thanks so much, Pattyjo!
the the bubble room i went there when i was 10 now i am 31 cant wait to make the bubble bread thank you
I have eaten at the Bubble Room for years, and this is the recipe I have always wanted. I finallly got the waitress to give me 2 of the ingredients and you are correct: blue cheese and of course Parmesan chesse (wich everyone had already figured out). Got home last night from Sanibel, and can’t wait to try your recipe.
Thanks!
Hi Darlene. Let us know what you think of it!
Thanks for the recipe! Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday and bubble bread is his FAVORITE! He raves about it all year long. I look forward to trying your recipe and I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Jennifer, please do. We would love to have more input on if we got the recipe just right. We think we do but always appreciate additional taste testers.
Read your Bubble Bread recipe, all wrong, made it for 2 years..here it is
Sourdough (they made it fresh)
garlic butter
blue cheese dressing thick (Blue cheese,mayo,cream,pepper)
Parm Cheese
chopped Parsley
paprika
Brush bread with garlic butter, toast, let cool
Coat with blue cheese dressing, and parm cheese, sprinkle parsley and paprika, bake till it bubbles.
Darin,
Do you have the ingred. for the Eddie Fisherman? love that dish!
Awesome recipe! I have been going to the Bubble Room for over 20 years and have always wondered how to make this. We tried your recipe last night and my son and I vote it is right on! Thank you!!!!
Lynda, so glad you loved it! I have been craving some lately myself. Perhaps tonight with dinner
Loved the bubble room ever since I stepped foot in it. I live in Jacksonville and there was a Bubble Room in st augustine. It’s closed now, but I’m particularly happy I found this recipe. I combined both yours and Darin’s recipes. It came out alright but not exactly like the Bubble Room’s. I also burned it a little. I’m making it again tomorrow and this time I’m following your recipe exactly!
Perfect! Just made it and it tastes just like our long time Bubble Room favorite! Thanks so much! We’ve been wanting this recipe for years!!!
Ginna, thanks for the update. So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Thanks, Ginna (and Darin). My sister will also be thrilled with this recipe! For many years during the ’80′s and ’90′s, we visited the famous Bubble Room Restaurant. It was at its best when Jamie and Katie Farquharson (the original owners) were there. They sold the BR (with many of their recipes) in the late ’90′s. Sadly, it has never measured up to the high standards and quality of its founders. Katie was (and is) famous for her cake creations (the red velvet and others are her/grandmother’s recipes). I read a local news article several years ago that she was working on a cook book, but I never heard whether it was completed. Katie split from her husband, left the restaurant business and is now a popular and gifted artist in the area of Sanibel-Captiva-Pine Island. She now goes by Katie Gardenia. My most favorite items at the Bubble Room were: Bubble Bread (of course), the entree “Eddie Fisherman” (black grouper filet covered with Ritz cracker & pecan topping and baked in parchment bag), the “3 Coins in the Fountain” appetizer (baked concoction of shrimp, langostinos, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and spinach in a cream-sherry sauce) and the most incredible cake of all: “Katie cake” (a delicate angel-food type cake with the most delicious and delicate white frosting with glazed, toasted almond slices sticking out all over like a porcupine). DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THESE DISHES? RECIPES, PLEASE?!
Patty,
My husband and I have been going to Captiva since 1978. We know of all the recipes you are telling everyone. The bubble bread has changed over the years, but I am going to make the above recipe tonight. I have been craving it. I will be their next week.
Mary Anna Marshall
Mary Anna, wish we could tag along! Let us know what you think of our version.
YUM! Pretty dang close!
Thanks, Melissa. Do you live in Sanibel or Captiva or do you just travel there often?
Does anyone have the recipe for the Christmas Cake from the Bubble Room+ Was so full last night we took it home and had it for breakfast…hahaha
OMG…just about the best I ever ate…Thanks
I was a “Bubble Scout” with the Bubble Room in Weaverville, NC, Orlando and on Captiva Island. I loved Jamie,Katie and their daughter Patti. The Bubble Room was an amazing place to work and the food was out of this world. I would love to go back in time and sit in the Bird Cage or The Tunnel of Love and eat the Eddie Fisherman just one more time!
Thank you so much for working on the bubble bread recipe! I can’t wait to make it! I’ve been a Captiva Bubble Room fan for years and we got to go again a couple of weeks ago. MMMM Good! I just can’t express how thrilled I am to be able to make bubble bread at home! Thanks again!
Kate, let us know what you think of the recipe after you try it.
Does anyone know the recipe for “Three coins in a fountain”? I was so disappointed to find that the Bubble Room in Orlando had closed. It was my VERY FAVORITE PLACE, and I loved that appetizer…
Just told my boyfriend about the bird cage and the tunnel of love. Got to love the memories!
Just tried the recipe last night and my husband said it was spot on! We have been going to Captiva for years and every time we eat at the bubble room and try to dissect the ingredients of Bubble Bread! This recipe was so easy (couldn’t believe it!) and delicious! Thank you!
That’s so great to hear, Amanda! I’m hungry just thinking about it
Amanda,
Does the Bubble Room still make their porcupine cake? I worked there as a waitress/bartender in 1982-3. I think it had a marshmallow frosting with malted candy pieces that we decorated the cake with before every dinner shift – it was a fabulous dessert! Making the bread today! Thank you, Chica and Jo!
Thanks so much for this recipe. I use to go to the Bubble Room in Captiva all the time. I grew up in Cape Coral and my parents still live in Fort Myers. I love the red velvet cake and the orange crunch cake!!! OH and the white Christmas cake!! YUMMY!! Thanks for bringing back such fond memories!
Thanks so much for the updated recipe! I’ve made the previous version you posted several times (with rave reviews from all tasters), but I’m excited to try this new one. I live so far away from the only remaining Bubble Room, but I am desperate to find a copycat recipe of their Orange Crunch cake. Have you dissected that one? Or has anyone found a recipe for it yet?
Hi CJ. This may sound crazy, but I actually haven’t tried any of the desserts from Bubble Room because I’m always way too full by the time I eat all that yummy bread and other food!
Hi Chica and Jo, I just now googled the Bubble Bread and found your site, Darin is right on.He is comment # 10. I use Marie’s Blue Cheese Dressing. Make it like Darin said. Toast it first with garlic butter and then smear on the Blue Cheese Dressing and proceed with the parm,paprika,parsley and Bubble it under the Broiler. LOL.I have been eating there since the first couple opened it on Sanibel and served the food on Fiesta Ware and only seated 26. After they sold, it was franchised. The Bubble Room came to Naples,FL. and flopped. We still have to drive all the way to Captiva to eat there and enjoy the atmosphere. Love the Grouper in a Bag, too. I can make that, too. Not quite as good as theirs but close. Thanks for your clever site. LB
Landed on this site while looking for a way to restore crystalized honey (go figure). I’ll be TRYING that bread! But what I’m REALLY interested in is the recipe for that Christmas Cake ya’ll claim is so awesome. My family has this annual Christmas “dessert throwdown” (with a trophy & everything). I need to pull myself out of 2nd place!
Welcome, Sally! We’re glad you found us and hope you stick around to enjoy more of our project ideas. Your family’s dessert throwdown sounds like a wonderful tradition. Which cake recipe are you planning to try?
I’m looking for the recipe for the Eddie Fisherman (grouper cooked in a paper bag). LB if you got a recipe that would be cool. We discovered the Bubble Room in Orlando in the early 90′s and were disappointed when it closed. So everytime we are even remotely close to Ft. Myers we try and go. Thanks for the bubble bread recipe Chica! Going to try and make that with the fish!
Three stooges pasta and/or seafood chowder recipe anyone? Just got back from there…It is an annual trip…I want to make the dinner just like we had it…Shall I dress up as a bubble scout(joking)
This was so delicious! I took some small creative liberties due to family members’ tastes, but it tasted pretty close to what we have had at the bubble room. Thanks for posting this. http://keelymarie.com/2012/05/14/bubble-room-bruschetta-bruschetta-rethought/
Nice spin on the recipe, Keely. Thanks for sharing!
The Bubble Room is one of my favorite places to visit and eat at while in the area. Every time we visit my father in Fort Myers it’s a tradition that we go! I can’t wait to try the bubble bread recipe and I will come back and let you know what I think! Also, I found this link for the Orange Crunch Cake for those looking for it-http://allrecipes.com/recipe/orange-crunch-cake-2/Detail.aspx. I haven’t made it, but plan on trying it because it is also another favorite of ours from the BR! Thanks for posting this site and allowing us all to make our mouths water talking about the BR!
Great job C & J … your recipe is right on the money. I wholeheartedly disagree with the comment that says to use blue cheese salad dressing and sourdough. Tried it and it tasted like Blue Cheese Crunchy Bubble Bread. (not entirely terrible. would actually be good for a different/unique version of this but not the original) Did the chica and jo recipe and the swiss really counteracts the blue for a perfect blend. The only thing I would do is add maybe 1/4 more of the mix for a cheesier bread. Maybe my loaf was too big. I remember going to the Bubble Room when I visited my grandparents in Ft. Myers as a kid. Had many birthdays there with a giant steak and huge cheesecake. But Bubble Bread was the standout! If I was on Iron Chef and the secret ingredient was Italian Bread, I would make this! Thanks for taking me back to childhood. I hope the Bubble Room stays open long enough for me to take my kids there one day! Good job y’all!