Review: 41440 Heartlake City Bakery

Celebrate spring with a tasty treat from Heartlake City Bakery. We're open for take-out, delivery, or outdoor dining. 

Heartlake City Bakery is a fun, fast build in the 4+ line. The quick build is designed to help young builders get to playing faster, but there's plenty of fun here for kids of all ages. 

We start out assembling Stephanie who is hard at work in the bakery. Stephanie has a cute torso print featuring a cruller on a white apron with bright pink zigzag stripes over a magenta shirt. The back shows the criss-crossed apron straps and tied strings. She also wore this outfit in 2020 in sets 41426 Heartlake City Park Café and 41401 Stephanie's Play Cube - Baker.

Her hips and legs feature a long white apron/skirt with dark blue shoes. This was also new last year and has only been used in 41393 Baking Competition (2020) and 41426 Heartlake City Park Café (2020). While this piece makes a great apron, I can't help wishing it had been recolored in pink to match the torso print.

Overall, it's a great figure with a great torso. She gets a fresh pretzel to snack on while we build the bakery.



The bright light yellow 8 x 16 x 2/3 modified plate is fairly rare. It was first used in 2015 for the Juniors set 10684 Supermarket Suitcase, but hasn't been in a set since. It's a great piece to give our bakery a fast, colorful foundation. 

To this we add a couple of 1 x 4 modified plates with 2 studs to bring the 1 x 4 indentations on the base up to floor level. Medium azure was a new color last year in set in 31105 Townhouse Toy Store. It shows up in 3 sets this year including 41450 Heartlake City Shopping Mall. 

Two 1 x 4 modified bricks with masonry profile in lavender are added to give a little texture to the front walls. This is only the third set to use these pieces in lavender. They first showed up last year in 75978 Diagon Alley and 21324 123 Sesame Street. I'm excited for future brick walls in lavender. 



Before we finish the bakery facade, we stop to bake a cake. A bright light yellow 2 x 2 round brick with axle hole makes a tasty yellow cake. This was a new color last year and appeared in three sets including 43179 Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse. This is only the fourth set to use it. 

We frost the cake with a reddish brown 2 x 2 cake frosting piece. This has only previously been used in set 41393 Baking Competition (2020).

To finish off this tasty mini-build, we add a 2 x 2 round tile with an exclusive print featuring 6 magenta spirals. Yum. I'm getting hungry writing this. 

The cake and pie fit nicely behind the trans-light blue 2 x 4 x 5 cylinders to make a great window display, and then we pop in the 2 x 16 x 6 door frame with 3 openings. This huge door frame has only been used in four sets. It was new in 2018, and then used in two sets in 2020 including another 4+ set 41398 Stephanie's House. It makes quick work of building the bakery facade, and it looks really good. I like the 1 x 1 round plate with horizontal twist for the door knob. It's a tasty detail.



Turning our bakery around, we add a little detail to the interior. A warm croissant waits in the pastry case, and a cash register is set up for payments. This register is a 2 x 2 45° slope with a new print. This updated cash register features a card slot and contactless payments. It is new this year an already in 4 sets including 41439 Cat Grooming Car.



The side walls go up next featuring a take-out/drive-up window. They are secured to the front with 6 x 1 curved slopes in magenta. This is a new color, so far exclusive to this set. 



With the side walls in place, we finish up the front by adding awnings over the bay windows. The 2 x 4 x 1 1/3 windscreen piece is new in magenta and exclusive so far to this set. 

The 2 x 4 tile with Pie, Croissant, and Pretzel Menu is also an exclusive print for this bakery.



We finish off our bakery with a few more frosted details to match the door, and a 2 x 4 oval tile with a layer cake sign. This is another exclusive print. Stickers are difficult for young builders so there are none, which means we get some really great prints. Everything looks so tasty.

We only have one extra part from bag one. I'm sure I could find a place to add another dollop of icing, but for this review, I will leave it as a spare.



Here's the interior of our completed bakery. It's a rather sparsely decorated space, but that leaves plenty of room for play and posing figures. 



Before opening bag two, here's a quick look at all the parts from bag one. We got some excellent prints, and a nice selection of new or rare parts for such a small set. 



Bag two starts out with Olivia and Coco. The bag doesn't name Coco, so it might be a new dog. This one is dark orange instead of medium nougat. This is the second set for this specific dog, first appearing in set 41396 Puppy Playground (2020). 

Olivia is wearing a bright light yellow dress with a pink waist over a strawberry printed shirt. This is the same torso used in set 41392 Nature Glamping (2020). The bright light yellow skirt makes for a complete dress and has been used in multiple previous sets.

Olivia gets some cash to pay for her chocolate ice cream cone and a bone for Coco. 

Next we build a little delivery scooter. No new parts for the scooter. I like the use of the gold bucket handle as a kickstand, but I wonder why they didn't add a headlight? It's easy enough to add one later.

A helmet is included for the protection of the driver. I think Olivia looks rather strange without her hair, I am glad that this helmet can be used by either mini-doll. Safety before fashion.



While Olivia enjoys her ice cream, we'll build a little outdoor seating area. The base uses two bright light yellow modified 2 x 2 x 2/3 plates with 2 studs on the side. These are still a rather rare color having only appeared in two other sets: 10271 Fiat 500 (2020) and  43179 Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse (2020). These will be the base of two chairs.



The table in the middle uses another 2 x 2 round brick in bright light yellow, and a 3 x 3 round tile in white. The tile was new last year in set 21324 123 Sesame Street. It is used in six more sets this year including 41444 Heartlake City Organic Café,  41450 Heartlake City Shopping Mall, and  41445 Vet Clinic Ambulance.



We finish up our dining area with a lovely arch and the seat backs. No new parts here, but I love how these chairs are made. Simple but very effective. 



The seating area and delivery scooter finishes bag two. Just a few left over pieces, most of which could be added to the build - like an extra bone for Coco. And did someone drop their ice cream cone? Or do we need to clean up after the puppy? 



Bag two didn't have any prints other than the standard green 100 note, and only a couple new pieces.



Adding bag one and two together we get the completed bakery. It's a colorful and inviting shop with a cute outdoor seating area and plenty of play potential.



It's less exciting from the back, but as mentioned before there is plenty of room for posing characters. Here Olivia buys another ice cream cone at the take out window, while Coco enjoys her bone. 



The box front follows the standard Friends layout with a big 4+ to let us know this set is designed for beginning builders. Stephanie and Olivia are named on bottom right corner. The end shows Coco sneaking the croissant off the table, while a pie is ready for delivery. Olivia and Stephanie put the finishing touches on the cake. 



The back of the box calls attention to the large "Learn to Build" pieces and also shows some of the smaller pieces that add delicious detail. A call out box shows Olivia buying a cake and setting off on there scooter. 

The box top shows our two friends and using Stephanie as the scale model.  



Summary:

Overall this is a fun little set. There is a lot of detail for a small, beginner build. The prints are excellent and there is a nice selection of new parts. This is a great set to build with children who are just moving up from DUPLO, but I also recommend it as a starter for a larger build for older kids and adults.



For AFOLs who haven't done a lot of MOCing, this set has enough detail for inspiration, but lots of room for expanding, especially for the interior. 

Happy Building!
-prrbrix

---
Disclaimer:
This set was provided by The LEGO Group for the purpose of sharing set details with fans.
Opinions provided here solely reflect those of our reviewer.
Photographs are property of Friends Bricks and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.