Rome Sweet Rome

Something I'll never get tired of here in Rome is the delight in buying something as simple as a cake or some cookies. When you go to a bakery, they take your order and then place everything on a golden tray, wrap it in special paper and tie it with ribbon. You walk out every time as if it were your own birthday and not someone else's and it's just one of those little fun things that makes living in Rome special for me.

Today's post isn't about an Italian bakery, however. It's about a Austrian bakery with Viennese specialities in Rome. La Dolceroma is located in the Jewish Ghetto just across from Tiber Island. Yesterday after doing some shopping in a nearby store I had an urge to stop in to this bakery.

I knew what I was getting myself into. This place is like a cake boutique: it ain't cheap, folks. Ale's favorite dessert is the Sachertorte (sounds a little like "soccer tort"), a cake from Vienna that was invented by Franz Sacher in 1832. It has two layers of a kind of dry chocolate cake, with apricot jam in between the layers, and covered in a chocolate shell or thick dark chocolate fudge icing. "Das Original" is sold at the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, which was opened by Franz's son in 1872.

But I digress. Finding Sachertorte in Rome isn't difficult, but finding one that is close to the real thing can be a challenge. La Dolceroma has it, but you'll pay a pretty penny: €4 per slice (about $5.20). Actually now that I think about it, I paid $5.20 for a small (ahem, I guess that's technically known as a "tall") Starbucks something or other when I was in the States, but I confess I almost felt ashamed. I don't consider myself to be a crazy penny pincher, but that seemed like a lot. Anyhoo, back to our story, point being: La Dolceroma can be fun for a splurge once in a while.

Sachertorte and Imperialtorte

Besides the famous Sacher, they have some American goodies that Italian bakeries don't sell, like blueberry muffins, brownies, carrot cake and chocolate chip cookies (€1.80 each!). They have lots of other cakes as well. I got the "Imperialtorte" that you see on the right above, and it was some kind of concoction of marzipan and almond cream--very good. Sold by weight though, another thing I didn't realize 'til the girl rang up my order--a little over €5 for the square piece you see above. The Imperial Torte is pretty heavy and costs €3.50 per 100 grams (about 1/4 lb.).

Playing around with the macro function on my camera, allow me to bring you up close and personal with these cakes:

H.R.H. Imperial Torte

Sacher Torte

La Dolceroma is worth a visit if you're wandering the Jewish Ghetto area. You could stop in for a cookie or a truffle. It's next-door to the Portico d'Ottavia, which is an interesting monument.


La Dolceroma Austrian Bakery
Via del Portico d'Ottavia 20/B
Tel. 06/6892196