Holiday in Salzburg

Salzburg was our first holiday together so it only seemed right to revisit on our post wedding holiday (nope – still can’t type that word!), and what better time of year to visit than in the run up to Christmas?

Salzburg, like much of continental Europe, really goes to town in the run up to Christmas and every square had its own Christmas market. It was lovely to see wooden items made by craftsmen and hand painted rather than the mass produced plastic tat we’re so used to.

It was also nice to come across a new Christmas legend...well, new to us. In the UK you never hear mention of Krampus but he’s the sidekick to St Nicholas and punishes the children who have been naughty. We were lucky enough to be in town on his special night (5^th December) and see him roaming the streets – he makes quite a lot of noise! Here are two Krampusses (Krampi?) and a suitably scared tourist:

Consequently Krampus features heavily in Christmas eats; here he is as a cutesy chocolate:

A slightly more fearsome chocolate:

A mean looking breakfast bread (don’t worry – I defeated him with my twin attack of butter and nutella):

And a rather too healthy looking incarnation made from dried fruit (although maybe for some people golden raisins are scarier than chains!):

But it’s not all Krampus. Thankfully, there are schneeballe (snowballs) to enjoy. I’d never seen or heard of these before – they are fried biscuits which are then covered in thick chocolate and other flavours. Here’s the stall selling them:

Just to put it into scale how enormous these beauties are, here’s our one after we tried to take a bite from it (I now know how a hamster feels when given a new gnaw-stick!):

After such exertions it’s likely you’ll need a drink. There are many options – will you choose punch?

Or perhaps a nip of very strong liqueur?

Or maybe a hot chocolate?

During life, one learns that there are set answers to certain questions – a good one being “does this item of clothing make me look fat?”. The correct answer – of course – is always “no”. Another example would be “would you like chips with that?”, “yes”. I have a new question to add to the list and it’s this: when ordering a hot chocolate in Austria and you’re asked if you’d like it “mit schlag” the answer is always yes, as then you will receive it with about three inches of whipped cream on top!

This example from the Hotel Sacher scores extra points for coming with a generous measure of rum:

What can one say about the divine Cafe Sacher, located within the famous Hotel Sacher? Sometimes you hear about celebrities living in hotels and all I can say is that Hotel Sacher would be my choice, if only for the cafe! I may well need to be winched out of the place, should I stay there for a prolonged period, but so be it! It has an understated elegance:

This visit, I had one of the best cakes I’ve ever eaten in my life...and I don’t make such a claim lightly (in fact, I make it a few pounds heavier!). It was called “maronischnitte” which translates as chestnut slice. Such a simple name for a work of art:

Mr CC chose the chocolate truffle cake:

And here is a selection of all the cakes I will work my way through when I a) become a celebrity and b) live at the Hotel Sacher:

During out last visit we tried the famous Salzburger Nockerl and this time we splashed out and had it in one of Salzburg’s swankier restaurants – The Golden Hirsch. It blew the last one we ate out of the water! This one omitted the fruit and included vanilla. The waiter asked us if we wanted the beginner’s version or the regular. It seems that the beginner’s version only has three peaks. Guess which we opted for?

It was light as air and creamy with a thin sugary crust. Just looking at this photo makes me drool:

But I am not the hero you think. Whereas Mr CC managed both his peaks comfortably I admitted defeat. As being beaten by food is such a rare occurrence for me, I photographed it...oh the shame:

Even the street food was top quality. I bought, from one of the stalls, Florentine balls and chocolate truffles. Sinking your teeth into the Florentine balls was heavenly – thick layers of sticky sliced almonds!

The chocolate pyramid contained the richest, thickest truffle:

The one mis-fire of the trip was Esterhazy cake. It looked beautiful....

...but was actually a little dry and heavy going. As it was the first time we’d ever had it I don’t know whether we had a bad one or it’s just meant to be like that.

Finally, just to prove that we didn’t live on cake, dessert and chocolate (although it does sound an appealing diet) here is the most famous savoury Austrian dish of all – the Weiner Schnitzel, although this was pork rather than veal:

Mr CC and I both love Salzburg – the food, the scenery, the lovely friendly people, the Christmas cheer. What a perfect place to get into the Christmas spirit!

The Cakes of Salzburg – part 2

And to think there were those of you who doubted me and feared I hadn’t sampled Sacher torte! When we visited Hotel Sacher’s cafe I felt that I was making a pilgrimage rather than simply going for cake. The cafe was everything I hoped it would be – an elegant tea room harking back to the past, with the menu set on turned wooden rods so that it was easier to hold and read.

We settled into our booth and ordered the world famous Sacher torte. This was what arrived:

Wow! Just look at the crispness and evenness of the layers:

The extremely moist sponge might almost fool you into thinking that it had alcohol soaked into it (it hasn’t) and the thin, barely visible, layer of apricot jam added fruitiness. The thick chocolate topping was firm but not hard and tasted like heaven! The dark chocolate was intense without being bitter and the cocoa flavour built in your mouth with every forkful. I found it divine and was relieved as I would’ve been crushed if it wasn’t tip top quality. The CCBF (Caked Crusader’s Boyfriend), in contrast, was a little disappointed as he had hoped that the chocolate would be more bitter and rich. Having said that, here’s his plate about 4 minutes after we were served:

It’s also worth showing the coffee – although it looks more like a dessert! The liqueur glass contains a chocolate liqueur. I had a sip and can vouch that it had a kick to it!

The CCBF is well used to my obsession by now and anticipated that I would head off to the cake counted to photograph everything. Thus, on my return as I enthused about all the delights on offer he suggested that we have another cake. This is why I love him! When you peruse the photos set out below of the cake counter you’ll appreciate why selecting just one cake was tricky, but I settled on the strawberry torte:

This was truly patisserie at its finest. The base was a mix of plain and chocolate sponge, topped with the most refined strawberry mousse I’ve ever tasted – you know how when you make strawberry mousse you sieve it to get all the seeds out...but some always sneak through? This was perfectly smooth – not a seed in sight. The mousse was a loose set and so well judged; firm enough to hold its shape but soft enough to melt in the mouth. The vivid strawberry coulis on top was an amazing colour and tasted as intense as it looked.

As promised here are the photos I took of the Cafe Sacher cake counter. There are quite a few:

We visited the Mirabell Gardens early one morning and I fell in love with the dwarf garden; an area containing what I suppose you’d call Baroque gnomes. Mirabell will be known to you if you’ve seen The Sound of Music as the “Doe a deer” bit was filmed there. Behind the Gardens a food market was in full swing. This wasn’t a tourist market but where the locals were buying fruit, veg, meat and bread. We ventured in and were rewarded with spectacular sights, smells and sounds – it was also packed! Keen to blend in with the locals (who seem to drink beer and spirits at all times of the day) we purchased some goodies and retreated to the dwarf garden to enjoy them. The CCBF went a little more native than me settling on the local beer (a good effort for 10.30am!) and a pretzel:

I selected a chocolate covered bun:

At less than €2 this was a bargain. The bun was huge and, for a yeast-based bun, surprisingly light. The milk chocolate covering was a halfway point between a ganache and a glace icing. Just to prove I can be arty even when filling my face with baked goods, here’s the bun with the beautiful Mirabell Gardens in the background:

We took a boat up the Salzach river to Hellbrunn a palace famed for its trick fountains that squirt the unsuspecting bystander... but this is not a blog about fountains. The restaurant served a most pleasing chocolate nut cake:

Both the chocolate and the nut were clearly defined flavours and the sponge was extremely light. The sponge was flecked with minute chocolate chips and the top was given crunch with chopped nuts.

Luckily, Salzburg is aware of its culinary delights and there are many cookbooks for sale in English with the recipes for all the yummy things you’ll eat whilst staying there. One or two (OK, eight) of these books came home with me – as did my new friend Herr Stiegl. Here he is marvelling at the Salzburg architecture....

We both agreed (that’s the CCBF and me, Herr Stiegl kept his opinion to himself) that Salzburg was a wonderful holiday location and I would recommend it to anyone who likes fresh air and good food. The city is compact and virtually everything is within easy walking distance. For September we were blessed with marvellous sunny weather and I shall always think of the place fondly.