Walking around Vienna

                                                       

Vienna, European capital, well-known for its imperial palaces, its music, its dance,... and for its coffee shops!

To go to have a coffee in this Austrian city is to go to a cult place, to take one's time and to enjoy a sweet piece of a typical cake.

Well-known are the Sachertorte and the Coffee Shop of the same name (we will go back to them in another article), but there are also other specialties typical of the country, like for example the Apfelstrudel, or the different "home-made" chocolate cakes in each coffee shop or hotel.

What we found when we arrived at our room in the Kummer Hotel:

And the brochure says: "A little gift of the sweet beginning of your stay! The recipe of our cake is top secret. It only can be said that it is a composition of pistachios, red currant jam and crispy cone, without alcohol and with a milk chocolate glaze. Get yourself inspired by this great taste!"

It seems that most coffee shops and hotels create their own chocolate cake. In that way its dessert becomes a symbol of identity, which can only be tasted in that place. However, only the Sacher Hotel and its Coffee Shop could cross borders a long time ago. Indeed, they make the worldwide most imitated and chocolate cake.

Walking around Vienna streets means running into coffee shops or patisseries and bakeries at any corner. A few examples: 

Aida Cake Shop

                                             

It's a very basic kind of pastry making. Finishing touches and design are very simple and not well worked.

Fruth Bakery

                                         

Small shop with chocolate creations, made by the chocolate maker Eduard Fruth, who, once retired, entertains himself delighting his customer with his few creations.

Altemann & Kühne Bakery

From 1928, this shop sells a range of about fifty handmade chocolates and mini-chocolates, that are sold inside handmade small boxes and decorated with old Vienna's motifs. However, they focus all their creativity on the packaging, having to pay exorbitant prices in my opinion. Moreover, from the shop window it's impossible to see any kind of creativity as for bakery or confectioner's, but only for packaging.

Demel Bakery

                                                

The only bakery where the workshop is visible. To mention Demel is to talk about Vienna's pastry making with all its history. This bakery, placed very close to Hofburg Palace, sold the imperial house its cakes in times of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sissi).

L. Heiner Cake Shop

                                             

From the shop window, all the ranges of products which are sold inside can be seen. At first sight we can distinguish a traditional shop selling filled chocolates, chocolates figures and marzipan. Of course the famous Sacher Cake, made by themselves, is also present.

Sacher Coffee Shop

               

It's the starting point of this famous cake, about which we'll talk more extensively later. I'd only like to say that entering this Coffee Shop makes anyone feeling part of the history, and in my case, part of the history of Pastry Making.

Hussel Confiserie

            

There are many details to tell about this Sweetshop. We'll come back with another article to explain a bit more. For the moment, we can say that we could see a very good price-quality relationship and a lot of creativity.

Bonbons Anzeiger

                              

Central sweetshop, where handmade filled chocolates and tea biscuits are produced. What I saw is that in Vienna, they generally use a lot of marzipan, which they use to mix in the filled Chocolates.

Even in Mc Café in Mc Donald's there are cakes !

          

We were surprised to see that, even in this chain, they sell handmade cakes and that anyone has the opportunity to buy a piece of pie instead of settling for any sweet bun.