Prague’s Black Madonna cafe introduced a new dessert modeled in the form of the coronavirus. The pandemic inspired its shape and visual representation.
The café is located on Celetná street in the Old Town district and the treat can be seen in the cafe’s dessert display case. There is a small description card that simply says: “virus.” This dessert is mostly covered with chocolate, filled with pistachios and raspberry. Its size is about the same as a tennis ball. It’s known by its special “spikes” composed of white chocolate and dried raspberries, which create an unusual shape that is heavily similar to the simplified appearance of coronavirus, which recently became a highly recognizable part of the popular culture.
While the Czech Republic is going through one of the highest rates of COVID-19 infections in Europe, this dessert helps to fight a pandemic-fueled recession of the restaurant business, seeing how cafe and restaurants saw a significant drop in sales across the Czech Republic.
The delicacy has been a massive hit and its popularity is steadily increasing. Now, more than 100 pieces are sold each day and these numbers are rising.
Olga Budnik, the dessert’s creator, said that she invented it during the first national lockdown in spring.
“I found a photo of the virus on the internet and figured out in detail how to make the dessert – how to make the spikes, what the color would be like, and I prepared it all,” she told in an interview for Reuters.
She’s already got plans for the next dessert, which is a COVID-19 “vaccine” treat, which should have a taste of citrus and liqueur.
