Three layers: banana cake with Bavarian custard, chocolate cake with strawberry glaze, yellow cake with fudge, all encased in whipped cream. South Side birthday-cake institution from the Atomic Age.

Atomic Cake was created in the late 1940s or early 1950s by baker George Kremm while he worked at Calumet Bakery in Chicago's South Deering neighbourhood. Kremm named it in honour of the Atomic Age fascination of the postwar years. He took the recipe with him when he opened Liberty Bakery in Roseland in the 1950s, and the cake spread across South Side Bohemian and Polish bakeries. Today Calumet Bakery in Lansing, Weber's Bakery in Garfield Ridge, and Wolf's Bakery in Evergreen Park are the canonical Chicago Atomic Cake bakers. The cake is the default birthday cake on the South Side; rarely seen north of the Loop.

1 editor pick for Atomic Cake in Chicago, ranked by editorial score. All Chicago signature dishes · Atomic Cake across every city.

Weber's Bakery ★ 4.4

$Bakery

Weber's Bakery in Chicago is the Garfield Ridge Polish bakery on Archer since 1930, with rye breads, kolacky cookies and the Fat Tuesday paczki line out.

TipOn Fat Tuesday the queue is two hours. Pre-order on the website by the Friday before; collection runs all day.

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