Before I go any further, you are probably wondering why I am writing about my SECOND favorite birthday cake and not my favorite. My favorite birthday cake is a homemade chocolate cake with seafoam icing that only my mom and grandma can make right. You will likely never get your hands on that cake, especially since I only get it about once every 5 years. But my second favorite cake is yours for the taking!
When the Huffington Post wrote an article thanking Pittsburgh for The Greatest Cake America Has Ever Made, a lot of my friends started asking me if I had tasted it and what I thought about it. I was ashamed to admit that I had not, but I was determined to change that as soon as my husband visited Pittsburgh.
His next trip just happened to coincide with my birthday. So he ordered me a standard chocolate cake with chocolate icing (I’m a chocoholic) to be delivered to me on my birthday but he also stopped by Prantl’s Bakery in Pittsburgh to pick me up one of the much touted Burnt Almond Torte to bring home. We both expected that the chocolate would be my favorite but that it would be interesting to try the Torte.
We severely underestimated the deliciousness of the Burnt Almond Torte.
When I opened the box, I was surprised by the size of the cake. You could serve it at a brunch and get a lot of servings out of it. I was skeptical of all of the almonds. I love almonds as much as the next girl but it was all you could see!
I cut myself a moderate sized piece. We had the “Travel” Torte so that it didn’t have to be chilled for the drive home from Pittsburgh. So the custard inside is just a little different than if you buy and eat the cake locally. But this is the one you will get if you order online.
The cake itself was kind of white/light yellow with a buttercream frosting under the almonds. As a general rule, I do not really like white cake or much buttercream frosting. I was hoping the custard inside and the almonds would make up for it. I still wasn’t sure how it could be considered one of the best cakes ever.
It’s one of the best cakes ever.
I can’t even explain how much I loved this cake except that I actually found myself thinking about it during the day and wondering when it would be okay to eat another piece. Do I have to wait until after I work out? Is it appropriate for breakfast? Can I rationally tell my kids that they cannot have anymore because I do not want it to run out?
We rarely finish cake in our house. Usually after a few days we have had our fill and the last couple of pieces get thrown out. When I ate the last piece of my cake last night, I was sad. I was sad because it was the end of the Burnt Almond Torte and I didn’t know when I would be able to get another one.
I’m going to have to agree with the Huffington Post on this one. Those sugary burnt almonds that surround this cake are one of the best things I have ever had from a bakery. I could just eat them by the handful. There’s just enough icing but not too much. I did see that they have a chocolate version, but I’m thinking that I don’t want to mess with the perfection that my tastebuds have discovered.
Have you ever tried the Prantl’s Burnt Almond Torte? Are you still dreaming about it?
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