[VIENNA, AUSTRIA] 24hrs of Café Trotting in Vienna

As I walk down the cobblestones in Vienna, window hopping from one café to another, I could not help but feverishly eyeing those cakes through the transparent glass. It is like window shopping for shoes to a woman.

What am I in the mood for? How would trying this hazelnut cake compared to a strawberry tart add or diminish my collection of happiness? If Alice is choosing a chocolate torte, should I try something else instead so we can get the best of both worlds?

It may sound crazy such simple decision making can become a hugely complex process.

Oh how torturous that we can only pick one cake at a time!

So if you only have 24 hours in Vienna, here are the top café and their relative desserts to try:

No. 1 Oberlaa Konditorei – Lemon Torte & Lemon Meringue

Lemon Torte: It comes with a traditional sweet biscuit shell (yes 0.4cm thick only), a soft, airy lemon curd filling and topped with lime meringue. It is very different from any of the lemon tarts that I have had, which usually has a very strong, alert acidity for the lemon custard filling with a glossy finish. Instead, this is a very subtle dessert that has a wonderful calming effect.

No.2 Zauner Konditorei - Chocolate torte

Technically this is in Bad Ischl but it is worth the drive to go for the dessert! I was so bedazzled by the desserts there that I forgot to note down the name of this, and even after I scrambled through my receipt it did not have the name on it. Looking on the bright side, I can still fully re-capture the ingredients with precision. So this is a hard-shelled ganache with almond crust, pistachio sprinkles and caramel chocolate at the center.

Decadent!

No.3 Café Central -- Orange zest Plunder & Millie Feuille

So I’ve been to café central for quite a few times, and apart from its fancy selection of mille feuille to raspberry cakes, I am absolutely fond of its simplistic pleasures – like their orange zest plunder.

You will be surprised that something so seemingly innocent has such strong flavor and packed with character. The sugar glazed orange slices is not overtly overcooked that it loses its texture and orange tanginess. As you bite into it, the interior is filled with cream custard and apricot jam. A very delicate finishing note.

Its mille feuille is top notch, with a blackberry and custard creme filling with nutmeg and cinnamon. Very unique and subtle undertone of the spices, and definitely very different from traditional French mille feuille. Recommended to those who want that Hungarian touch!

No.4 Demel – Hazelnut Cake

Demel has that x’mas charm of walking down a 5th Avenue's window display. Its window display is full of pastel colored desserts, flowers, chandeliers, dancing couples: it has the full package of a girl’s fantasy for desserts. You can also see all the action of a dessert chef through its open spaced kitchen.

No.5 Café Alt Wein -- Apple Strudel

I am surprised that there are so little mention about Café Alt Wein.

They have top notch apple strudel (yes even better than the ones they served at Schonbrunn Orangerie ad Café Sacher). The shell is soft and flaky and quite different from the texture you will get from a croissant. The filling consists of rum, raisins, cinnamon and apple. I am not surprised that people like to eat it with fresh cream, because the dessert itself has crunchy apples that really adds layer of depth to the dessert.

No. 6 Sacher – Sacher Cake

What can I say, it is the Sacher cake. To be honest when I first had it, it really didn’t give me goosebumps for an astonishingly wonderful dessert. However, what is interesting is that it has a hard ganache shell (which was rather sweet) – as I thought perhaps a dark chocolate ganache would have worked out better to tone down the sweet apricot jam filling. The texture worked out nicely with its softer layer of chocolate cakes and yes to the apricot jam!

No.7 Simply Raw Bakery - Vegan, gluten free cinnamon & walnut bars

Delicious and rejuvenating energy bars -- I did not have lunch and only had this --which was very filling and satisfying afterwards :) They also have a wide selection of vegan, organic and gluten free desserts.