VIENNA - Vienna is a city of cafes and pastry chefs.
Beautiful display cases displaying cakes and other sweet temptations promise endless pleasure.
The most famous Viennese cafes are not only known for their unique ambience, but also for their namesake cakes.
It could be said that every self-respecting place has its own cake.
Many of these typical sweets are then shipped all over the world.
According to the criterion of notoriety,
Sacher-Torte
is certainly the irrefutable number one.
The best thing is to enjoy it where the original is, at the refined Hotel Sacher or at the adjoining Café Sacher.
Every year 360,000 Sacher cakes are made here according to artisanal methods.
Its inventor was in 1832 the then sixteen year old assistant cook Franz Sacher, who had to improvise a dessert for Prince Metternich, the chef de cuisine having fallen ill.
Nowadays the Sacher-Torte is one of the most famous cakes in the world, and it is recommended to accompany it with unsweetened whipped cream.
Only a few employees are aware of the original Sacher-Torte recipe.
And by the way, it is shipped all over the world, which is not a problem, because the cake can be kept for at least 18 days.
A recipe that is very close to the original Sacher-Torte secret recipe can be found at the following link: https://www.wien.info/it/shopping-wining-dining/viennese-cuisine/recipes
The luxurious Hotel Imperial also offers a house cake.
The
Imperial-Torte
was conceived in 1873 in honor of Emperor Franz Joseph I on the occasion of the inauguration of the hotel.
Strictly speaking, however, the Imperial-Torte is a pastry, albeit oversized.
Layers of soft chocolate cream alternate with layers of delicate almond pastry, and then everything is wrapped in fine marzipan and covered with chocolate glaze.
The rule is that the cake is tasted naturally at the Café Imperial along the Ringstrasse.
The cake is also available in two versions "Schwarze Orange" (black orange) and "Feine Himbeere" (delicate raspberry).
Also for this cake are possible shipments all over the world.
At K. u.
K. Hofzuckerbäcker Demel you can taste the Demeltorte.
This chocolate and nut cake is sprinkled with candied violets, a house specialty and Empress Elizabeth's favorite delicacy.
The hallmark of the café is the exclusively female staff in black uniforms.
The so-called "Demelinnerinnen" have been addressing guests for two hundred years using the form of courtesy used in the imperial era "Haben schon gewählt?"
(have you already chosen?).
Gerstner K. u.
K. Hofzuckerbäcker has its headquarters in the historic Palais Todesco along the Kärntner Strasse and this pastry shop was also born in the imperial era.
For the realization of the Gerstner-Torte, the cake of the house, Anton Gerstner was inspired by the Universal Exposition of 1867 in Paris.
It is therefore not surprising that for this cake a fundamental role is played by the Parisian cream.
The Café Central at the Palais Ferstel is also worth a visit for the Venetian-Florentine architectural style, chosen by its architect Heinrich von Ferstel.
Around the twentieth century this was the meeting point of writers: Franz Kafka, Arthur Schnitzler and Peter Altenberg were, for example, regular guests of the café.
At that time, however, the Café-Central-Torte did not yet exist, it was in fact only invented in 2000. The combination of chocolate, marzipan and the bitter-sweet taste of orange makes it truly special.
Also for this cake is expected to be shipped throughout the European Union.
Other sweet sins
A symbol of Viennese coffee culture has been the Café Sperl since 1880.
The original interior, including the pool table, dates back to the 19th century.
Visitors love to enjoy a slice of
Sperltorte here
, whose chocolate and almond dough has a delicious aroma of vanilla and cinnamon.
Café Landtmann was opened on Vienna's Ringstrasse in 1873.
Today the Landtmann, a testimony of the shining period in which the Ringstrasse was set up, is one of the few cafes that rise along the prestigious boulevard.
Due to its proximity to the Parliament, the Town Hall and the Burgtheater it is assiduously frequented by exponents from the world of politics and theater.
An appreciated house specialty is the so-called Landtmanns fine Torte, a cake with a hazelnut and marzipan base with orange and gianduia.
The Kurkonditorei Oberlaa pastry shop boasts a long tradition;
his Oberlaa Kurbad-Torte, made up of thin layers of nut dough and chocolate and whipped cream, can be enjoyed in the various branches, or ordered at home.
Addresses:
Café Sacher Wien ǀ Hotel Sacher Wien, Philharmonikerstrasse 4, 1010 Vienna, www.sacher.com
Café Imperial ǀ Hotel Imperial, Kärntner Ring 16, 1010 Vienna, www.cafe-imperial.at, www.imperialtorte.com
K. u.
K. Hofzuckerbäcker Demel, Kohlmarkt 14, 1010 Vienna, www.demel.com
Gerstner K. u.
K. Hofzuckerbäcker, Kärntner Strasse 51, 1010 Vienna, www.gerstner-konditorei.at
Café Central, corner Herrengasse / Strauchgasse, 1010 Vienna, www.cafecentral.wien
Café Sperl, Gumpendorfer Strasse 11, 1060 Vienna, www.cafesperl.at
Café Landtmann, Universitätsring 4, 1010 Vienna, www.landtmann.at
Kurkonditorei Oberlaa, numerous branches throughout Vienna, www.oberlaa-wien.at