Q/A: What's New Yorkish about Viennese Pastry?

Quite a bit, it turns out, says noted cookbook author Rick Rodgers

Poppy Seed Gugelhupf (Bundt Cake). Photo Credit: Kelly Bugden

Rick Rodgers, a longtime New Yorker and now Jersey resident, is the author of over 40 cookbooks, and the co-author, ghostwriter, editor, or recipe tester for another 50. But his favorite is Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague Revised Edition, which was a Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month cookbook club and also nominated for an IACP Cookbook Award.

I asked Rick about Viennese Pasty and it’s links to the New York baking scene, past and present.

1. In your book about the classic cafes of Vienna, Budapest , and Prague, you write about those cities’ legendary coffee spots and their sumptuous desserts. Why aren’t these desserts better-known in this country?

Years ago, German cooks were the gold standard (think Luchow’s). When I first came to New York from San Francisco, Austro-Hungarian bakeries thrived and were still owned by the immigrants who started them. Lichtman’s and Cafe Eclair on the Upper East Side, Mrs. Herbst’s and Cafe Geiger in Yorkville…I loved them all. They reminded me of my Auntie Gisela’s baking. Now the immigrant population has changed, and you’re finding bao, pandan tarts, and soufflé cheesecake in Asian-owned bakeries.

2. Why should Americans, and in particular, home bakers, care about Austrian pastries?

Because they’re delicious and happy surprises to serve. Offer Sacher torte instead of chocolate cake and you have a conversation-starter. If you are gluten-conscious, many tortes have nut flours as their base. If the torte has breadcrumbs, it is easy to swap gluten-free crumbs. 

3. What are the best places in New York to sample these pastries?

Sadly, there are fewer places than in the past. The very best is Cafe Sabarsky in the Neue Galerie, which really tries to recreate the unique atmosphere of a Viennese coffeehouse. Andre’s Hungarian Bakery in Queens (also Yorkville) and the Hungarian Pastry Shop near Columbia are very good, but they also make more American items.

4. I understand that the Danish, a mainstay of the New York diner, has some connection to Viennese pastries. What is it?

In Europe, these pastries are called Viennoiserie. In the 1860s, there was a bakers’ strike in Copenhagen, and Viennese bakers traveled to fill the gaps. They brought their recipes with them. Laminated sweet doughs (including Kipferln, the crescent-shaped forerunner of the croissant) were included. When the strike ended, the Danes had come to love the pastries, and they stayed on their menus. When Danish bakers emigrated to America in the late 1800s, they brought the sweet dough recipes with them. The Americans called them “Danish,” but now you know they were really from Vienna.

5. When I think about my local American coffee spot, I certainly don’t associate it with Viennese cafes. But you say there’s a connection.

Hanging out at a coffee shop is a centuries-old tradition that exists throughout Europe, but the Viennese made it an art form. Entire artistic movements centered around specific cafes where people would meet and advocate their causes for hours. Because heat in apartments was unreliable, many people stayed in the cafes all day to keep warm during the winter. Some celebrities were even allowed to have their mail delivered to their favorite cafe. When I go to Vienna next month, I’m heading to Freud’s preferred place, Cafe Landtmann. But I may also visit one of Klimt’s regular stops, Cafe Museum. Yes, these places still exist today!

6. You’re leading a tour to Vienna and other Austria cities in May 2025 focusing on pastry and other Austrian foods. What are a couple of tour highlights.

I’m looking forward to sharing my knowledge about the cuisines of Austrian and Hungary, the culture I was raised in. Tour members will be going to a coffee roaster, a chocolate factory, some of my favorite cafes and bakeries, and an optional dinner at the Michelin 2-starred Steiereck. The crown jewel will be a visit to the unique annual Genuss Fest in Vienna's Stadt Park, where food vendors from all over Austria share their wares.

RECIPE

Poppy Seed Gugelhupf (Mohngugelhupf)

Makes 8 to 10 servings 

The Gugelhupf is the original “Bundt” cake, with the swirls resembling the folds in a Turkish turban.  (The Turks were forever attacking the Austrian Empire. Legend says that the Turks supposedly left behind bags of  coffee beans during one of their retreats, the very beans that got the Viennese addicted.) Look for fresh poppy seeds in bulk at Indian grocers Grinding brings out their exotic flavor. This is a “modern” recipe for gugelhupf, leavened with baking powder instead of the traditional yeast.

Ingredients

Softened butter and flour, for the pan

2 cups/240 g cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

¾ cup/ 105 g poppy seeds, ground in an electric spice or coffee grinder 1 cup/230 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature

½ cup/120 ml whole milk

2 tablespoons golden rum

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup/120 g  confectioner's sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Glaze 

2 cups/240 g sifted confectioner's sugar 

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation

1. To make the gugelhupf: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Using a pastry brush, butter the inside of a 10-inch Gugelhupf mold or fluted cake pan, being sure to get in the crevices. Coat with flour, tapping out the excess flour. 

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl, add the poppy seeds and whisk well. Stir the milk, rum, and vanilla in a glass measuring cup. Beat the butter in a medium bowl using a hand-held electric mixer on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. On low speed, beat in the confectioner’s sugar. Return the speed to high and beat until the mixture is very pale and light in texture, about 3 minutes. One at a time, beat in the eggs, then the lemon zest.

3. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour, then half of the milk, mixing just until each addition is absorbed. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk. Spread evenly in the prepared pan. 

4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool on a wire cake rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto the rack to unmold and let cool completely. 

5.  To make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and enough of the lemon juice to make a glaze about the consistency of heavy cream.  Place the gugelhupf on a wire rack placed over a clean baking sheet.  Drizzle the icing over the gugelhupf, letting the icing drip down the sides.  Let the icing set.  Slice and serve.