San Jose's home of the famous and addicting Burnt Almond Cake
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 7/11/2006
Rating: 8
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As you can see from the pictures, we had bakery extravaganza at Dick's Bakery. We stopped by for the Burnt Almond Cake but ask the lady if she'd build us a sampler plate for 1st time visitors. Very nice person and eager to fulfill our sweetest desires. We had walked out with 9 items (picture #6) at around $13 and took it back to the office.
Since I bought the pastries, I took samples of each pastry good before the office vultures were sent in to scavenge. Right off the bat, I went for the Burnt Almond Cake.
Burnt Almond Cake - super sweet cake, maybe too sugary for some but it was incredible. The icing is a fluffy cream and custard topped off with toasted almonds and powdered sugar. Cake is double layered yellow cake that tastes very similar to the devils food cake mix with moisture x 2. It's a definite winner and would come back just for this. I'm not the only one as it was an office favorite. (picture #10)
Cupcakes - ultra dense and can be used as a weapon. cupcakes were heavy and not airy like the one's I love at Aki's. I tried the mocha chocolate, coconut lemon, raspberry with the coconut being my favorite. Some people might like the dense texture but I'm more of a fan of spongy cake. Overall, ok. (picture #9)
Brownie Cookie - this was awesome, it's just brownie mix spread thinly like a cookie. kinda burnt and chewy. this is my 1st time having a brownie cookie and loved it. (picture #8).
cream puff - was sugar overdose and wasn't too fond of it. It was one of the last pastries to go if that means anything.
pecan cinnamon roll - i was expecting soft pastry but this was borderline stale. I've had much better ones out of a package at the market. Hell, hostess makes better ones. Not to point fingers but this one tasted 2-3 days old.
raspberry roll - same as cinnamon roll, stale and definitely not a favorite amoung the co-workers.
I think we had a great sampling of Dick's Bakery and say it was mix results. Some of the items tasted stale, some were too sweet, while others excelled like the Burnt almond cake and brownie cookie. Overall, I would rate this bakery a 7.5 but with the strong showing of the Burnt Almond Cake, I'm bumping it up to an 8. Heck, I picked up a wrapper laced with BAC residue straight out of the trash.
Reviewer: jsatre
Total Reviews: 75
Reviewed: 7/13/2006
Rating: 7
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Dicks Bakery IS all about the Burnt Almond Cake. Its the only cake they do very well…. Fluffy layers of yellow cake, whipped custard filling and tons of well toasted almonds and powdered sugar. The only other bakery that does this classic is Wilsons in Santa Clara and Id prefer Dicks over them. Many a family birthday has been celebrated with Dicks Burnt Almond Cake.
I grew up close by and Dicks was often a weekly stop for dad and I after school. As a kid, Ive always look forward to these visits, enjoying the clear cases that line the bakery with multiple treats. I was a big fan of their pinwheel cookies and éclairs. Yup, I started early being a gourmet eater. Dads fault!
As an adult however, I found that most everything tasted basically the same. The cream puffs and éclairs have an artificial, flat taste to the filling if you will. The cookies seem to be made from standard basic dough with added nuts, colors, flavorings. I see very similar creations at Safeways bakery, which is average quality at best. I swear their coffeecake rings come from the same place.
Even my good ole dad who was a frequent visitor stopped going some years back, be blamed it on lowered quality and higher prices. He said the first thing to change was the donut sizes, then everything else. He questioned the owners and they said operating cost had forced them to increase prices. They also admitted that they were no longer making everything fresh. I remember a few years back my dad took home a cinnamon pull-apart for mom and she said it was stale even though it was wrapped in plastic.
I know, I know… Dicks has been around for a very long time, but I truly think its because of the Burnt Almond Cake.
Perhaps I owe them another visit and another review? My most recent stop was a few years back, and I stopped going after discovering the amazing creations at La Patisserie. Price difference is marginal.
Now is their burnt almond cake worth picking a waxed paper out of the trash… hmmmm… not sure! ;-) It is very, very good and a nice light dessert. Shame more bakeries dont make this…
Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 10/20/2005
Rating: 7
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I feel bad writing this review as it could be my shortest review to date. The only item I have tried at Dicks Bakery is their famous Burnt Almond Cake. Some time last year our choreographer celebrated her birthday and one of our team members suggested we buy her a cake as a surprise. I suggested we get her a mouse cake from Akis Bakery but it just so happens that Akis was closed that week. She recommended Dicks Bakery for their Burnt Almond Cake.
When I initially imagined the cake I was expecting actual cake with almond flavoring and almonds within the cake. Turns out the cake are creamy, rich and sweet, nothing like I imagined. Fluffy cake with a top layer of sweet whipped custard (tasted a bit like butter cream), toasted sliced almonds and powdered sugar. A middle layer of fluffy cake, followed my another layer of whipped custard and fluffy cake again on the bottom. The custard is not spread on thin but you get even portions of custard to cake.
If you enjoy super sweet desserts this is the cake for you but I personally do not enjoy super sweet desserts. The cake is just too overwhelming. I only managed to finish a small slice and did not crave for more, in fact I felt a little nauseated from all the custard and sweetness.
The cake is not cheap either as I remember forking over $8 with 6 people in our dance team. Cake and card totaled $48. The cake could have easily fed 8 people as there were plenty of leftovers.
For now, a lower rating but I will visit them personally and try other products.
“What did you think?
This place is terrible. 1 cake doesn't = 8. What place is very good that has 1 item. Place is a joke; should just focus on 1 good item & manufacture it. Stop making disgusting danish/ pasteries.”
5/23/2008 6:12:01 AM
Amoreena ate...
"Whipped Cream" vanilla cake w/banana fi
“Yuck! The staff is very nice, but they use cheap quality ingredients. The wc was fake, and the cake was dry and tasteless. I was very upset, as the cake was for my son's 2nd b-day. I give them a 6. Betty Crocker does a better job!”
