Philly Pretzel Heaven - "It's a sin not to eat them!"

“Few places in the world are easily defined by a single food item, Seattle has coffee, New York has pizza, and Philadelphia has pretzels (along with cheese steaks but who’s counting).” – Philly Pretzel Heaven

Pretzels and cheesesteaks were the two things I missed the most while living in Miami. Every morning in Philly I would get a coffee and soft pretzel but living in Miami I had to do without the pretzel. Whenever I went back home to visit I would always lug back a ton of pretzels but they never lasted long. I introduced soft pretzels to my Miami friends and they fell in love which meant my pretzel stash would go even quicker. Once you get a taste of an authentic soft pretzel from Philly there’s no turning back. You may ask well what about Auntie Anne’s Pretzels? Well of course they have Auntie Anne’s in Miami but compared to a real soft pretzel they’re crap. They are thin, rubbery, and not chewy. Once you go Philly you’ll never go back. And on that note Miami I am proud to introduce you to Philly Pretzel Heaven. The best and I’m pretty sure the only genuine soft pretzel place in South Florida.

Philly Pretzel Heaven
When I first walked into Philly Pretzel Heaven I was skeptical and didn’t expect it to live up to my taste buds but when I took my first bite I was right back on the street of Philly. It was everything I didn’t expect and more. I couldn’t tell the difference between a pretzel purchased from a truck on the streets of Philly and a pretzel from Philly Pretzel Heaven. They have great pretzels for even better prices. They sell soft pretzels, pretzel twisters, pretzel nuggets, pretzel dogs, and pretzel sliders. The owner grew up in northeast Philadelphia so he knows exactly what a real soft pretzel should taste like. They’ve only been open since 2006 but they are doing a darn good job. If you never enjoyed a real soft pretzel I encourage you to go try one and if you’re a Philly transplant, trust me you won’t be disappointed. Philly Pretzel Heaven is located at 5021 South State Road 7, #210 Davie Florida.

http://www.phillypretzelheaven.com/

We Take The Cake

Bakeries in South Florida are few and far in-between making it hard to find a good birthday cake. Of course they have bakeries in their grocery stores but they don’t cut it, sometimes you want a REAL cake - or what I like to call them “fancy” “bourgie” cakes. There’s nothing like an exquisite dessert from a good, real bakery. Growing up there were bakeries all around; it was never a problem finding one, especially the Italian bakeries mmmm and that’s where we always got our cakes. Naturally when I moved to Miami I didn’t expect anything different. Every year for my birthday all I want is an excellent gourmet birthday cake and the grocery store cakes just aren’t good enough. After extensive searching and driving my mother insane she finally found a bakery that holds up to my standards. Just like the ones up north, ‘We Take the Cake’ really does take the cake!

We Take The Cake
They started off as a mail-order bakery in 1997 and has flourished since then. This award winning bakery is located in South Florida (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale) at 1021 N Federal Highway Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304. They have been featured in newspapers such as The Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post and magazines like Southern Living, In Style and La Vie Claire to name a few. They have also appeared on Food Network shows such as Challenge, Road Toast, and Unwrapped. Even though they have been in the spotlight they didn’t let it go to their heads and stayed a small company. Not only can you visit them in the store but they deliver anywhere in the United States.

Cakes & Cupcakes
They use homemade recipes and each cake is handmade and hand decorated. They sell both cake and cupcakes for pick up or delivery. Their cupcakes are huge with cream cheese frosting and then decorated with a butter cream frosting flower. Since I’m a chocoholic my all time favorite birthday cake is their 9’’ chocolate layer cake. It is a very dense and rich chocolate buttermilk cake filled and frosted with chocolate cream cheese frosting finished with a drizzle of chocolate ganache and then topped with chocolate curls.

Oprah’s Favorite Thing
Even Oprah put their Key Lime Bundt Cake on her favorite things list and sure enough the Oprah effect took over. After being featured on Oprah they went from a business that was barely making ends meet to getting overwhelmed with orders and doubling their business. Oprah put We Take the Cake on the map! The cakes are now available in every Whole Foods store in Florida.

http://www.wetakethecake.com/