In roughly 4 billion years, scientists predict, the Earth will have finally baked long enough in the sun's rays to be ready to eat. Until then, you can get your pastry fix with today’s Groupon: $5 for $10 worth of fine baked goods at Swiss Haus Bakery in Rittenhouse Square.
At Swiss Haus, you’ll be treated to classic European recipes that have been a Philadelphia institution for more than 85 years. These are the cakes of Old World lore, whose crumbs marked the way home through deep, dark forests. Try the hazelnut cake, Swiss Haus’s crown jewel and raison d’être. This hazelnut sponge cake, with thick Swiss vanilla buttercream and Swiss chocolate shavings, came to Philadelphia by way of a European family in 1923. Joining it were pastry compatriots: rum cake with vanilla-almond cream and mocha cake with Swiss mocha buttercream and crushed cashew nuts. Invest your Groupon in your very own 7-inch hazelnut cake ($21), and feed six to eight people something three-layered famous. Pastry chef Donna Canzanese whips up both traditional recipes like these, which she learned from the original Christian family bakers, and newer baked treats.
If your pastry ambitions run smaller than cake-size, Swiss Haus also has a comfortable, welcoming café area where you can enjoy a cup of coffee or tea paired with one of the smaller pastries ($2.99 to $5.50) or cookies ($14.99 per pound). Strap in for seven layers of satisfaction with the Clichy, a seven-layer, coffee-brushed biscuit alternating with chocolate buttercream, raspberry, and ganache. There's the guilty pleasure of the Mozart, a hazelnut meringue treat with chocolate buttercream and cake, finished with white chocolate mousse. Or choose from the 30 varieties of cookie available every day, from the butter cookie dipped in chocolate and chocolate sprinkles to the white chocolate macadamia nut.
Back in the 20s, when the Christian family introduced their recipes to Philadelphia, they opened the Swiss Pastry Shop. It operated for decades but closed in 2007, causing hazelnut withdrawal symptoms for loyal customers, the Hausman family. Two years ago, Jim Hausman convinced Canzanese to keep the pastry ovens burning and opened Swiss Haus to carry on Philadelphia’s butter, cream, and sugar traditions.
Reviews
Channel 3, KYW, and Amiable Life have all featured Swiss Haus Bakery:
- [The hazelnut sponge cake is] rich without being overly cloying and the taste is immensely satisfying. The hazelnut layers are delicate yet sturdy enough to support the thick buttercream. The pink buttercream roses are perfectly piped and the dark chocolate shavings add an incredible contrast to the hazelnut cake and sweet frosting. – Amy Leis Hocking, Amiable Life
Yelpers and Insider Pagers give Swiss Haus four stars, while Citysearchers rate the bakery a perfect five:
- …I appreciate the subtle, refined bakery goods they sell here. The cakes are not overly rich and creamy and fatty… – G L., Insider Pages
- It's a cute little shop, with seating if you want to have a cup of coffee and a pastry. Staff have always been friendly and helpful. – sari_beth, Citysearch
And, perhaps most importantly, the Dalai Lama eats Swiss Haus cakes.
Groupon Says
Trapcakes
Delicious baked goods are the most common bait utilized in fiendish traps. Here’s a list of warning signs to make sure that cupcake is cupsafe:
If your cupcake screams with the voice of a man: It is safe to consume. This cupcake is actually an evil prince, most likely imprisoned by a dryad as punishment for denying the dryad a carriage ride when she was in the guise of an old crone. End its misery, but chew carefully, for there is a gold coin in the middle that will duplicate itself a hundredfold if left overnight in a bowl of saltwater.
If your brownie is still warm, and smells strongly of cocoa: Do not consume. This brownie is exuding heat isotopes due to a series of quantum folds within, most likely placed there by a science genie. Biting into it could cause the so-called “empty space” between your electrons and atomic nuclei to balloon with dangerous Reverse Matter, causing you to rapidly de-age into infancy, and the spontaneous de-cancellation of the show Dinosaurs.
If your croissant contains a curved, glinting blade inscribed with the Runes of Zortania: Do not consume. Your father did not prepare you for this mission. Forget you saw it, and stay away from that strange yet familiar old woman in the cave and her crackpot tales of heroism and destiny.
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