Prantl's Bakery

Prantl's Bakery traces to Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood, where accounts of its exact founding vary — some sources credit Henry and Joyce Prantl opening the shop in 1967, others Jane and Larry Prantl in 1968 — but its Walnut Street building has housed a working bakery in continuous operation for more than a century.

The bakery's signature burnt almond torte dates to 1970, when baker Henry Prantl developed it after the Almond Board of California encouraged bakers at a trade conference to find new uses for almonds during a market surplus. The torte caught on locally and then nationally; HuffPost named it "The Greatest Cake America Has Ever Made" in 2014, and it remains the bakery's best-known item decades later.

Prantl's now operates five Pittsburgh-area locations — Shadyside, Northside, Bellevue, Greensburg and inside the Omni William Penn hotel — selling more than 100 bakery items alongside the torte, including custom and wedding cakes. The bakery ships its baked goods nationwide and also delivers locally through DoorDash and Uber Eats.