Perla Homemade Delights

The Cleveland suburb of Parma is a bright star in northern Ohio’s firmament of Eastern European food. In the neighborhood known as Ukrainian Village, Perla Homemade Delights mostly sells prepared meals to take home and heat – the pierogies are legendary, always winning #1 at the local pierogie festival – but for those of us passing through and demanding instant gratification, there are a couple of tables and an enthralling pastry case. Have a lady lock (a cream-filled puff pastry horn), a piece of strudel or nut roll or, best of all, an individual slice of supremely refined dobos torte, a twelve-layer sponge cake ribboned with chocolate buttercream and capped with caramel.