After an excellent dinner at the Griechenbeisl restaurant in Vienna, we started walking back to our hotel. But we weren’t going straight to the hotel. We had one stop to make – a dessert stop.
Vienna – Dessert Capital of the World?
After seeing so many shop windows in Paris displaying magnificent-looking chocolates, pastries, and desserts of all kinds, I thought Paris must be the dessert capital of the world. Now I’m not so sure.
The thing about Paris is, most of the desserts I saw there were in shop windows. But here in Vienna, most of the desserts I’ve seen are on plates, in the process of being devoured. I’ve never seen so many people eating so many tasty treats.
There are a lot of Viennese desserts to choose from. Of course there’s strudel. It’s everywhere. Apple strudel seems to be the favorite. But Viennese pastries and desserts go way beyond strudel.
The Viennese are famous for their pastries, of course, but cakes are also a big deal here. Cake – what a nice thing to specialize in!
Cake
One Viennese classic is the Malakoff-Schokolade Torte. They make it by stacking layers of chocolate lady fingers in between layers of whipped cream. Mmmm.
Like many Viennese delicacies, it has a history. It was created to honor the Duke of Malakoff after he defeated Russian forces during the Crimean War.
Or how about a Mini-Schokogugelhupf? Don’t worry about trying to say the name when you order this for dessert. Just point to the words on the menu and say, “I want this one!”
A Mini-Schokogugelhupf is a chocolate hazelnut pudding cake. They pour hot chocolate sauce over it and serve it with whipped cream. (Of course!) Just think “chocolate hazelnut lava cake.” Oooooo.
The most famous Viennese cake has got to be the Sacher torte. (Pronounced like “soccer”). And the Sacher hotel is just around the corner from our hotel, so what were we waiting for? We wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
The Sacher Torte
A Sacher torte, (shown at the top of this post), is dense chocolate cake, coated with a layer of apricot jam, and then coated with a chocolate ganache glaze. It’s one impressive-looking dessert.
The story goes that way back in 1832, the court of Austria’s Prince Metternich had requested a dessert for a special occasion. The chef was ill at the time, so the task was taken on by his 16-year-old apprentice. The pressure was on.
The young apprentice, Franz Sacher turned out to be up to the task. The dessert he created would come to be called the Sacher torte.
When ours came, it was quite a thing to behold. So elegant and classy – something that should only be eaten while extending one’s baby pinky up into the air.
A Sacher torte is served with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. The chocolate cake, apricot, chocolate glaze, and whipped cream combine to make a luxurious, wonderful bite of goodness. Mmmmm.
To be continued…
The Sacher torte photo at the top of this post is the work of David Monniaux/Wikimedia Commmons
