Burdick’s Chocolate Café—A Taste of Europe in Harvard Square
When you’re in Harvard Square looking for a pick-me-up, a stop at Burdick’s Chocolate at 52-D Brattle Street--the best continental patisserie and chocolate bar this side of Vienna—is the ticket.
“A very European experience,” my friend called it, as we sat sipping rich dark hot chocolate and sampling hand-made chocolates that were a delight to the eye and palate--simple, yet sumptuous. Even the paper-topped tables recalled a visit to a Paris café, and the rich brown curtain through which customers enter the café is the seductive color of deep, dark chocolate.
This is the perfect stop on a cold day, for a shopping break, or after a movie date for a hot chocolate, or a coffee and one of the artful European pastries, including the Chocolate Mousse Cake--a rich chocolate cake layered with lingonberry jam and topped with chocolate mousse--the Linzer torte, and the Viennese Gugelhupf.
Or, try the decadent “Harvard Square,” a dense, rich chocolate cake with walnuts and vanilla topped with dark chocolate ganache.
Here, fresh fruit tartlets beckon, along with the madeleines, Luxembourgers and chocolate bonbons. The artful chocolates are arranged, European-style, at the counter, and café beverages are brought to the tables that sit side-by-side along a mirrored wall.
The hand-dipped chocolates are rich, velvety concoctions guaranteed to assuage any chocolate craving, pronto.
L.A. Burdick Chocolate has been around since Paula and Larry Burdick started the company in 1986 following their years in Europe in the 70’s and 80’s. The Burdicks’ life in Paris definitely influenced the ambiance of their two cafés and chocolate shops in Cambridge and Walpole, New Hampshire.
Paula attended the Fashion Institute of Technology, and her career in fashion, plus experience working with color, fabrics, yarn, and style direction is evident in the packaging and design of Burdicks' finished products.
Burdick Chocolate even offers a four day, hands-on workshop teaching the basics of fine chocolate making. Billed as “a rare opportunity to build a familiarity with the ins and outs of preparing chocolate bonbons and confections and gain a basic command of this complex food,” students will learn the art of cooking ganache fillings, tempering chocolate, the hand-cutting and dipping of bonbons, truffle making, the creation of distinctive chocolate confections, and more.
Workshops will be held in Walpole, New Hampshire in July and August.
Some of Burdicks’ choice recipes are even available online.
For sacher torte, see: http://www.burdickchocolate.com/recipes-item1.asp
Harvard Square Cafe
52-D Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617-491-4340
Regular Business Hours:
Sunday - Thursday, 8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday - Saturday, 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM
http://www.burdickchocolate.com/stores-and-cafes-cambridge.asp
- Barbara Sealock
