Throughout German-speaking lands,
afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee
and cake) has become a sophisticated
social ritual that demands lavish
surroundings and ornate torten.
SALZBURG
Café Tomaselli
Alter Markt 9; www.tomaselli.at
Austria’s oldest coffeehouse, founded in 1705, was
once the haunt of Mozart and prides itself on barely
having changed since then. The torten are
outstanding, but the place prides itself on its
Guglhupf, a simple marble cake.
Below in the picture :Café Tomaselli, Austria’s oldest “Viennese coffee house”; Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte,
or Black Forest gâteau; coffee and the classic Sacher Torte.
Café Fürst
Brodgasse 13; www.original-mozartkugel.com
The upmarket coffeehouse opposite Café Tomaselli
invented the ubiquitous marzipan “Mozart Ball” in
1890. It has many delicious torten and some lovely
outdoor seating on the square outside.
Fingerlos
Franz Josef Strasse 9; +43 662 874 213
This is the locals’ choice for coffee and cake: a little
off the beaten path, but well worth the effort for its
broad selection of freshly made, high-quality torten
and the lively and contemporary atmosphere.
Konditorei Zauner
Pfarrgasse 7, Bad Ischl; www.zauner.at
Located in Salzburg’s hinterland spa town of Bad
Ischl, the glittering chandeliers, marble floors, and
fantastical confectionery of this patisserie are a draw
for the entire region. It began life in the early 19th
century as a supplier to the Austrian royal family.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
The Viennese claim that they invented the
notion of afternoon coffee and cake, and they
certainly have enough venerable cafés and
patisseries, or Konditoreien, to help prove it.
Hotel Sacher
Schwarzstrasse 5–7 and Philharmonikerstrasse 4;
www.sacher.com
The Sacher hotel chain is a legacy of the pastry chef
who invented the Sacher Torte, and it has branches in Salzburg and Vienna. Both have slightly snooty
cafés with deep-red upholstery, liveried tableware,
and arguably the best Sacher Torte in the world.
Café Central
Corner of Strauchgasse/Herrengasse;
www.cafecentral-wien.at
The favorite coffeehouse of Sigmund Freud and
Leon Trotsky (in exile) is still steeped in Viennese
tradition with tuxedoed waiters, extravagant
chandeliers, and locals poring over newspapers.
The setting, ambience, and unique torten often make
it very busy, but it’s spacious enough to cope.
Demel
Kohlmarkt 14; www.demel.at
A fine, long-standing Viennese coffee house that
opened as an aristocrats’ playground in 1786. It is
best known for its Sacher Torte, which was first made
here by Eduard Sacher (son of Franz, its inventor),
sparking a legal contest within the family. The café
today is more exceptional for its many coffees and
extraordinary multicolored torten, which have
included waxwork-style recreations of celebrities.
It also has branches in Salzburg and New York.
Konditorei Heiner
Wollzeile 9; www.heiner.co.at
A popular local café chain with several Viennese
branches, including this cozy wood-paneled one on
Wollzeile. Reasonable prices belie the superb quality
and the pedigree of this bakery, which once supplied
the Austrian court. The succulent poppy-seed torte is
in a league of its own.
BLACK FOREST, GERMANY
The namesake of the famous Black Forest
cake, this region of southwest Germany loves
to celebrate fine foods and its heritage, be it in
the form of cuckoo clocks, traditional dress,
wooden farmhouses, or delicious torten.
Café König
Lichtentaler Strasse 12, Baden-Baden;
www.chocolatier.de
This is a stylish throwback to Baden-Baden’s
18th-century heyday, as depicted in the black-andwhite
prints that line the café walls. Elderly ladies in
extravagant hats adore its famously delicate Black
Forest cake; the fruit torten are also superb.
Café Adler
Hauptstrasse 52, Triberg; www.hotel-cafe-adler.de
An understated café and patisserie with some of
the best cakes in the region, which can be enjoyed in
its pastel interiors or outside in a lovely little
courtyard. They have a tremendous line in decorative
confectionery items that make perfect gifts.
Café Decker
Hauptstrasse 70, Staufen; www.cafe-decker.de
The star café of the southwestern Black Forest
region has a lovely riverside outdoor terrace and
around 40 stunning fresh torten every day. It is also
a first-class chocolatier and ice-cream maker, but
beware: it gets packed at peak times.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
Chocolate and confectionery are a major
export for the Swiss, so it’s no surprise that
they take great pride in their cakes too. There
is a touch of the French pâtissier in their
smaller and more delicate confections.
Confiserie Sprüngli
Bahnhofstrasse 21; www.spruengli.ch
This is run by a world-famous confectioner who’s
famed for Luxemburgerli, a sugar-based cookie
much like a French macaron. But there are plenty of
torten to choose from too and everything is lovingly
handmade using the best ingredients – though
some might gripe about the high prices.
Café Bauer
Badenerstrasse 355; www.cafe-bauer.ch
This has been a local institution since the 1920s,
thanks to its great selection of freshly made torten
as well as a fine range of French-style patisserie.
It also has delicious versions of everyday bakery
products, such as pretzels and croissants.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
As the joint capital of the Austro-Hungarian
empire, Budapest shared much of Vienna’s
culture, and the “coffee and cake” tradition
took root here at about the same time. The
results are almost as venerable.
Café Gerbeaud
Vörösmarty tér 7–8; www.gerbeaud.hu
A large and noble coffeehouse where hanging
drapes and extraordinary chandeliers dominate
interiors that have barely changed since its
foundation in 1858. Despite seating over
300 people, a relaxed atmosphere prevails
and the torten are impeccable.
Konditorei Ruszwurm
Szentháromság utca. 7; www.ruszwurm.hu
This tiny and charmingly well-preserved 1820s
coffeehouse sits on Budapest’s Castle Hill and
has a superb cake selection, including traditional
Hungarian favorites such as the Dobos and the
walnut Esterházy with its succulent marbled icing.
On the Menu
Torten are rarely labeled and it’s often simply
a case of picking something that catches the
eye. Even so, it’s worth bearing the classics in
mind and seeking them out.
Dobos Torte Simple but elegant five-layered
Hungarian chocolate buttercream sponge cake
from the 1880s. Often coated with ground nuts
and topped with an angled wedge of caramel.
Frankfurter Kranz (Frankfurt wreath) Classic
rum-flavored cake with layers of buttercream filling
and a single layer of jelly.
Herrentorte (Gentlemen’s cake) A term used
for a range of cakes made with large amounts of
dark chocolate, particularly in their icing.
Linzer Torte A Christmas favorite from the
17th century with a latticework top and chopped
almonds around the edge. The pastry is a crumbly
combination of lemon, cinnamon, and ground nuts,
and its most common filling is red-currant jelly.
Obsttorte (Fruit torte) Usually the simplestlooking
torte, this fruit tart generally uses glazed
fruits (often strawberries) and is sometimes
decorated with toasted nuts.
Prinzregententorte (Prince Regent Cake)
A layered torte with chocolate buttercream and
apricot preserve, often dubbed the “Sacher Torte
of Bavaria,” where it’s particularly popular.
Sacher Torte This classic, dark chocolate cake
with a layer of apricot jelly was invented by
16-year-old apprentice pastry chef Franz Sacher in
1832; the recipe remains a closely guarded secret.
Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest cherry
cake) This is probably the most famous cake.
Layers of whipped cream and Kirsch-flavored
chocolate cake studded with maraschino cherries
are topped with dark chocolate curls.
Zuger Kirschtorte (Zug cherry cake) Swiss torte
made from ground almonds and hazelnuts, filled
with Kirsch and buttercream and topped with a
dusting of icing sugar.
Below : A tempting display of torten in a Viennese café with, far right, the tall, ring-shaped Guglhupf; afternoon coffee and cake in Café Gerbeaud in Budapest.
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