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| - Anyone who knows me--or reads my reviews--has probably figured out by now that I have a formidable sweet tooth (thanks, Mom!). This weekend, my mission to try out every bakery within PGH city limits (or at least, in the neighborhoods I frequent) brought me to Paddy Cake, since I was in Bloomfield to pick up some items at Donatelli's.
Having sampled several of their baked goods, if I had to sum up my impression in a word, it would be...inconsistent. The baked goods I tried ran the full gamut from excellent to mediocre to awful. Despite having covered 1/3-1/2 of PGH's bakeries and several in other towns, I've never been to one before where I came away with such a mixed experience. Here are my assessments of the individual treats I tried, in order from best to worst:
Tiramisu: 4.5 stars--This tiramisu is right up there with Groceria Italiana's as one of the best I've had. If you enjoy this dessert, you won't be disappointed--just eat it within a day or so, since the ladyfingers dry out after that, even in the fridge.
Lemon tart: 4.5 stars--The filling struck a perfect sweet-tart balance and was smooth and thick and creamy, but not overly so. The only part of this pastry that could bear improvement was the crust, which was forgettable.
Chocolate iced chocolate mini-cupcake: 4 stars--I wasn't expecting to care much for this 69 cent cupcake, but I was pleasantly surprised. The cake was soft and velvety, and the buttercream icing was okay to good. I only wish I'd picked up one of the cute ones decorated like a groundhog for Groundhog Day!
Chocolate iced donut: 3.5 stars--Despite their apparent popularity and what other reviewers have said, I found this cake donut to be mediocre, only slightly besting Dunkin's versions. The dough was a tad on the dry side, and the icing had a very commercial taste, similar to icing available in the grocery store.
Danish: 3 stars--I found the cheese and raspberry danishes pretty average in flavor, and on the small side for the price ($1.29 each).
Cinnamon roll: 2.5 stars--For reasons beyond my comprehension, many bakeries in PGH, including this one, don't seem to get that the key to a great cinnamon roll is...wait for it...lots of cinnamon! Aside from being skimpy on the key ingredient, the consistency of the dough was too wet/oily, making for a disappointing version of my favorite bakery treat. (They also had non-fried cinnamon buns, but they bore a striking resemblance to Entenmann's, so I decided against trying one.)
Cookies: 2 stars--It befuddles me how one cookie I ordered (triple chocolate iced, which looked amazing in the case) was gooey in the middle to the point that it was clearly undercooked, while the other one (peanut butter chocolate chip) was overcooked to the point that it was hard and brittle. Also, both cookies were iced with the same commercial-tasting chocolate icing used on the donuts.
In terms of the offerings, as others have mentioned, there's nothing that really sets Paddy Cake apart, since they don't have any unique products (e.g., Prantl's), and they don't seem to focus in any specific type(s) of baked goods (e.g., Colangelo's, Vanilla Pastry Studio). Having said that, service was friendly and efficient, and prices were very reasonable (all of the above came to slightly north of $10). Thus, while I may stop by occasionally while I'm in Bloomfield, I wouldn't go out of my way to come here specifically. 3.5 stars.
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