Sweets for my sweet

I and my sweetheart go home every year for Christmas. Home for us is Brașov, the Medieval city in the heart of Transylvania. We are usually torn between friends and family to visit, we hardly have any time for us. Romanticism is difficult for us during Christmas… This year, though, we were truly extravagant and went for a walk downtown, just the two of us.

I had a secret plan: to revisit a place sweet to my heart. I used to come here with my father, on Sundays, because he loved a good treat. And a treat it is having desserts at Vatra Ardealului (Transylvania’s Hearth).

This place opened in the 90ies and it apparently belongs to a famous tennis player, Ion Țiriac (though there is no confirmation on this info). For me, the place is there forever.

What to try? For the Meringue (whipped egg whites and sugar) lovers – like myself, the cake with the same name made it to top 10.

Here are some of the options available for the rest of us:

• Amandina – chocolate sponge cake filled with either chocolate or almond cream
• Doboș (meaning ‘like a drum’ in Hungarian) – sponge cake layered with chocolate butter cream and topped with caramel
• Chocolate éclair – oblong pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with icing (the coffee flavoured version is quite common in Romania)
• Cremeschnitte – vanilla and custardcream cake (easy to find in most Transylvanian cities)
• Biscuit salami – rum and chocolate biscuit roll with Turkish delight (a childhood memory for us)
• Savarina (or baba au rhum) – yeast cake saturated in hard liquor filled with whipped cream

All these sweets go along with coffee (decaf for me), ice cold water or tea. We shared four types of cakes and then walked the calories down the street. Because the place is nicely located two steps from the Black Church and four (steps) from the main square, Council Square.

One more thing: the place features classic tables and chairs and it is filled – on Sunday afternoons – with natives enjoying a quality dessert.

Not convinced? I will get back with fresh pictures next December, when we go home for Christmas.