Goldsboro, North Carolina
Scratch-made in Goldsboro since 1948
Three generations, one bucket of starter dough older than most of us, and more than 60 pastries made the same way our grandparents remember.
Call us at (919) 759-4741
photograph by Stacey Van Berkel
What Goldsboro says · 5.0 on Google
“Always get my birthday cake from Mickey's. Vanilla cake, white icing!!!! Moist unique flavor. You can tell it's all made from scratch. No from the bucket icing!!!!”
“I've been coming to Mickey's since I was a little boy, and my dad has too! They've been in business almost 80 years for a reason. No matter where I go, I still compare every cake, cookie or pie to Mickey's.”
“The BEST donuts in town PERIOD! Too many times I showed up too late and they had run out, and I can't blame my fellow consumers, because Mickey's donuts are just THAT good — you better get them quick!”
“I bought a German chocolate cake to celebrate the occasion of my 804th month. I found it to be absolutely the best German chocolate cake I have tasted in decades. Very reasonably priced and worth every penny! Thanks, Mickey's!”
“Always get my birthday cake from Mickey's. Vanilla cake, white icing!!!! Moist unique flavor. You can tell it's all made from scratch. No from the bucket icing!!!!”
“I've been coming to Mickey's since I was a little boy, and my dad has too! They've been in business almost 80 years for a reason. No matter where I go, I still compare every cake, cookie or pie to Mickey's.”
“The BEST donuts in town PERIOD! Too many times I showed up too late and they had run out, and I can't blame my fellow consumers, because Mickey's donuts are just THAT good — you better get them quick!”
“I bought a German chocolate cake to celebrate the occasion of my 804th month. I found it to be absolutely the best German chocolate cake I have tasted in decades. Very reasonably priced and worth every penny! Thanks, Mickey's!”
Our Story
A sweet legacy, kept alive in a five-gallon bucket
In a refrigerator at the back of the shop sits a white bucket of starter — a glob of dough the color of honeyed cream, fed every single day. It is older than Melanie Daniels, who owns and bakes at Mickey’s now. It was a gift from her father, Jerry, who received it from his father-in-law, Mickey McClenny, who received it in 1946 when he bought the bakery he had worked in as a boy.
It may look inert, but starter is a living thing: countless yeasts and bacteria that eat, breathe, and divide, giving Mickey’s cream puffs and long johns their rise, their texture, their flavor. It isn’t the only holdover — Melanie keeps notebooks filled with her grandfather’s scribbled recipes and decorating ideas.
“It hasn’t changed. All the cookies. Cakes. Pies — lemon, chocolate, coconut. The dough. All the same.”
— Melanie Daniels
Melanie, Jerry, and Mickey once worked side by side, and Melanie became the first third-generation Certified Master Baker in the country. The cakes that celebrated the birthdays of great-great-grandparents in Goldsboro taste like the cakes that welcome newborns today — because a little sweetness can make a day.
Story adapted from “A Sweet Legacy at Mickey’s Pastry Shop” in Our State magazine.
1920
Nathan Crocker opens his bakery in downtown Goldsboro.
1946
Mickey McClenny, who swept Crocker's floors as a boy, buys the bakery — and inherits the starter.
1948
The doors open as Mickey's Pastry Shop.
Today
Melanie Daniels bakes from her grandfather's notebooks; her brother Jerald sends Mickey's pastries to 85+ stores across eastern North Carolina.
The Counter
Sixty-some sweets, all scratch-made
Come early. Ask for something “in a bag” — that’s code around here for an extra treat to eat on the way home.
Cream Horns
A hollow spiral of puffed pastry filled with a cloud of white icing, dusted with powdered sugar.
Cream Puffs
Doughnuts filled with a silky cream frosting — started from the same dough as 1946.
Long Johns
Like our cream puffs, but shaped long. Made from the shop's ancient starter.
Cinnamon Buns
Sweet, raisin-studded, glazed while warm. They rarely survive the morning rush.
Sticky Buns
Caramel glaze and pecans, aptly named and impossible to eat neatly.
Lemon Squares
Constellations of sugar scattered across the top.
Pecan Pie
Better than homemade — plus lemon, chocolate, and coconut pies.
Layer & Sheet Cakes
Not-too-sweet, chocolate or vanilla, wrapped in blankets of buttercream.
Custom Cakes
Tell us the occasion. We’ll do the rest.
Every cake is scratch-made and hand-decorated in Goldsboro. Give us a call to place an order — a few days’ notice is best for custom decorating.
(919) 759-4741Birthdays
Buttercream layer or sheet cakes, chocolate or vanilla — and yes, icing dinosaurs on request.
Weddings
Tiered cakes made the same way they were for your parents' reception.
Just Because
Cream puffs and doughnuts by the dozen for the office, the nurses, the neighbors.
Visit Us
Under the blue awnings on Graves Drive
- Phone
- (919) 759-4741
- Hours
Monday – Friday7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
SundayClosed
Hours shown as a guide — please call ahead to confirm.
