Saturday, August 14, 2010

...and we're back!!

We've been on a road trip! We have just returned from Vienna, Prague, and Munich. Over the next couple of posts I'll share a few of my favorite highlights. First Vienna,

If you have ever been to Vienna (or Wien as it's know in Austria) then you know it's the city of Mozart, Klimt, and The Hofburg's but what I discovered is that it's also the city of the Sacher Torte.
There is a fierce competition between the many cafes to see who makes the best. This, of course, was a challenge we were happy to put our 2 cents into. The two most famous Sacher's to try were at the Demel Cafe and the Hotel Sacher.
First we tried the torte that the locals recommended from the Demel Cafe.
For those of you who have never tried this culinary delight, the Sacher cake consists of two layers of dense, not overly sweet chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle and dark chocolate icing on the top and sides. We agreed that the Demel Sacher was good, great even, but was a tad on the dry side. The apricot center was very thin so only a hint of the delicate flavor came through. One fab thing about the Demel is that you can watch the chefs in the kitchen making not only the Sacher cakes but also strudel.
Next we waited in line (in the rain) to try the Sacher at it's birthplace, the Sacher Hotel.
This torte had more prominate apricot, more chocolate ganache, and the dark chocolate square on the top was delicious. Hotel Sacher was the clear winner of the two. Plus we had it with a coffee with thick whipped cream on top that was so good I licked my cup clean, discreetly of course.
We did do other things besides eating cake like visiting the Opera House, Hofburg Complex, and the Stephansdom but really what I couldn't wait to tell you about was the Sacher Torte and whipped cream coffee!
If you have tried Sacher Torte feel free to leave me your thoughts and comments.
Next post: What cake did we eat in Prague? Wait till tomorrow to find out...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay! I'm so glad you are back! I've been missing my regular updates... your blog is addictive. :) Looking forward to more from your trip!

Italian Postcards said...

Thanks lady, I love being addictive. That's the nicest thing I heard about my blog!