Coronavirus-inspired ‘virus cake’ dessert goes viral

People are going wild for this cake inspired by the COVID-19 virus, with a cafe barely able to keep up with the intense demand.

A cafe in Prague has become the talk of the city as residents queue up to get their hands on its latest – and very unusual – dessert creation.

The Black Madonna cafe, in the Czech capital’s historic Old Town, has invented a “virus cake” that is modelled on the appearance of a COVID-19 molecule.

Slightly smaller than a tennis ball, the decadent cake is made with a filling of pistachio, raspberries and raspberry puree, coated with a layer of chocolate.

The recognisable virus spikes have been made from white chocolate and dried raspberries.

The popular ‘virus cake’ at the Black Madonna cafe in Prague’s historic Old Town. Picture: Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images

The dessert has become so popular the cafe is struggling to keep up with demand – and it’s helping to bring back business after the actual coronavirus turned the tourist hotspot into a ghost town.

“I found a photo of the virus on the internet,” the dessert’s creator Olga Budnik told Reuters.

“I figured out in detail how to make the dessert – how to make the spikes, what the colour would be like, and I prepared it all.”

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A 3D rendering of the COVID-19 virus, which provided the visual inspiration for the cake.

The unusual dessert is made with raspberries, chocolate and pistachios. Picture: Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images

The cafe has seen selling more than 100 virus cakes a day, with sales seeming to be on the rise. On Facebook, the cafe has asked people planning to visit the cafe in groups of three or more to book ahead if they intend to order the virus cake.

“The coronavirus crisis has meant a huge drop for us, in tens of per cent, like for other gastro enterprises,” the cafe’s marketing manager Vojtech Hermanek told Reuters.

“But at the same time it was a chance to bring out the coronavirus cake which is a symbol … showing that not everything is lost.”

But the cafe’s roaring success may be put on hold as the Czech government has ordered a second lockdown, after a spike in new cases of COVID-19 sparks one of Europe’s fastest growing outbreaks.

The success of the virus cake in Prague comes as the Czech Republic prepares to go into a second lockdown. Picture: Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images

There were 8618 cases recorded in Czech Republic on Friday, up more than 3000 on the previous day and significantly more per capita than any other European country, The Guardian reported.

The country has a population of around 10.7 million. It has already reported 119,007 cases during the pandemic and 1045 deaths, according to a tally by the John Hopkins University.

The Czech government said it would close restaurants and bars and ban alcohol in public places from Wednesday until November 3.

“We need to take measures that will reverse the trend within two or three weeks, otherwise we’ll run out of hospital capacity,” the country’s Health Minister Roman Prymula said on Monday, local time.