Viennese Bakery: Classic Cakes and Bakes from Vienna’s Cafe Culture

Food stylist Worndl (Fruit) adapts a collection of recipes from Therese Schultz, the bakery manager at Vienna’s Grand Hotel during the 1920s, for the modern kitchen in this ambitious guide. Linzer torte, baked quark cheesecake, striezel (sweet braided bread), and other appealing Austrian classics abound. However, the considerable amount of skill and time many of these recipes require will intimidate some home bakers: the show-stopping imperial torte, for example, involves baking a Japonaise cake and preparing a whole-egg chocolate buttercream before cutting and layering. The cake is then refrigerated overnight and covered first in rolled-out marzipan and then a final layer of melted chocolate. Similarly involved are the Ischler cookies, which require preparing vanilla custard, cookie dough, and Parisian cream, then assembling with apricot jam, melted chocolate, and pistachios. For less intimidating options, readers will want to check out panettone-like fruit bread, drunken capuchin puddings (mini cakes soaked in a spicy wine mixture), and vanilla crescent cookies. Lovely photos of Vienna and scans of Schultz’s handwritten recipes add a charming, nostalgic feel. Veteran home bakers looking for their next challenge will want to check this out. (Feb.)