Now a well-known bakery in Western PA, Oakmont Bakery started out with a humble beginning. It has now grown into a new 12,500 square foot space and has been named “Best Bakery” by several Pittsburgh Area publications.
Oakmont is a small town of about 6,400 people sitting a little over 10 miles from Pittsburgh, PA. Given the size and popularity of this bakery, you would think Oakmont is a much bigger town. I think that speaks to what the Serrao family has done with their business.
I have known about Oakmont Bakery for a number of years, but this was my first time visiting the bakery itself. My dad has been gone to this bakery many times to get treats for work events, and he often brought home some goodies. He got our whole family hooked on their delicious treats.
Yesterday, my dad took my mom and I to the bakery before our dinner plans nearby. It was a first-time visit for both my mother and myself. I had to walk up and down the long bakery case before I really got a sense of what they had to offer, because there were so many things to look at. A first time visit to this bakery could give anyone a sensory overload.
Let me dive in just a bit and describe what I saw in these cases. First, there is the bread. Oakmont has bread loaves, mini loaves, bagels, baguettes, rolls, and more! I can personally speak to how good their buttercrust rolls are. These are like a croissant and and a dinner roll mixed into to a muffin. They are buttery and flaky, and oh so delicious. My dad bought some of these rolls last year for the holidays, and I devoured quite a few of them.
Outside of bread, Oakmont offers an endless variety of sweet treats, including cookies, macarons, pies, cakes, donuts, and so much more! I spent the majority of my time looking at the cakes, because I could not get over the quality and creativity of these cakes.
They have a number of mini cakes, which they call dolce cakes. Varieties include almond, chocolate, Boston cream, carrot, peanut butter fudge, raspberry, strawberry, tiramisu, and something called the Oakmonter. The Oakmonter, which also comes in a full cake size and cupcake form, is made with New York style cheesecake topped with fudge icing and then a layer of dark chocolate cake followed by milk chocolate icing. The cake is drizzled with chocolate ganache and then finished off with chocolate bar pieces, cherries, and vanilla cream. Now if that isn’t an epic dessert, I don’t know what is!
If the large case in front of you full of cakes and treats isn’t enough, there are also a number of full-size cakes lined in a case behind the counter. They seem to have many of the same flavors as the dolce cakes, but only there are even more flavors, like black forest, canoli torte, lemon torte, German chocolate, pumpkin, rum torte, and more! I cannot remember if I have ever had one of their cakes, but they do all look so delicious.
There were even some really fun cakes, like the cheeseburger cake pictured below on the right. I can’t imagine how long it takes to make a cake like that, but I understand why this cake was selling for $45.
As much as I would have loved to try any of the treats at this bakery, my goal was to get something gluten free. Oakmont Bakery has a pretty decent “made without gluten” selection, including cupcakes, macarons, truffles, brownies drops, and almond dolce cakes. They do say that these are not gluten free because they are produced in a gluten environment. So, if you are incredibly sensitive or have a severe allergy, I would not recommend trying them.
I decided to go for a pack of the cupcakes, one chocolate and one vanilla. I went for the chocolate one first. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I did find the cake to be dry. I understand that it is difficult to make a moist chocolate cupcake. I have experienced this firsthand. However, I would have liked some more moisture in this cupcake. Good thing there was so much icing, which helped. The chocolate icing was so fudgy and delicious. It tasted like I was eating creamy fudge. I found this icing to be reminiscent of the filling of Fudge Rounds, a snack cake I ate during my childhood. Only, this icing was a much better quality frosting.
The vanilla cupcake was much more soft and moist. I would say that I preferred this one as a whole, though I could eat that chocolate frosting with a spoon. The vanilla icing was smooth and creamy but not too sweet. I will also add that for both of these cupcakes, I did not notice a texture difference from using gluten free flour. That is incredibly important when it comes to gluten free baking. Especially because I know how good gluten is in baked treats, when I eat a gluten free dessert, I want to feel as though the gluten isn’t missing. I found this to be the case with these cupcakes.
Overall, my experience lived up to the hype of Oakmont Bakery. I highly recommend anyone in the area (even if you are just passing through) to make a stop at this bakery. You can get a quick treat to enjoy there or on the go. You could pick up something for a dinner party. You can even enjoy something from the cafe, which has some of their own bread on the menu. I am convinced you absolutely cannot go wrong with anything you pick from this bakery.
*This post reflects my honest views. I did not receive any compensation or other incentives to post this review.
Oakmont Bakery
1 Sweet St
Oakmont, PA 15139
(412) 826-1606
Catie Cooks 