The Sweeter Side of Austrian Cuisine

Austria's cuisine comes from the Austro-Hungarian cuisine and it has Italian, Bavarian, Hungarian, and Czech influences. Austrian pastries are famous and it is true that the people there love desserts. Vannilekipferl is a Christmas dessert and these are little, crescent-shaped cookies which are made with ground hazelnuts or almonds. These little snacks are flavored, often with vanilla, and they have powdered sugar on top. They come from Vienna.

Tortes and chocolates are also popular in this cuisine and the Sachertorte is especially renowned. Sachertorte consists of chocolate sponge with apricot jam in the middle. The frosting is made of dark chocolate and there are also chocolate flakes decorating the sides and top. This tasty treat is often served with unsweetened whipped cream. Another famous Austrian cake is the Zwetschkenfleck, which is a plum and cinnamon-topped, upside down cake. Marzipan is used a lot in Austria's dessert recipes and this ingredient is made with almond meal and sugar.

Hot chocolate with whipped cream is a beloved comfort food. So, what about American dessert recipes? Perhaps jello recipes are not so common in the country as they are in the United States and sometimes it is nice to take the time to make an authentic Austrian dessert. At other times, when you are more in a hurry, jello recipes can save you time and effort and they are sure to taste good. As for American apple pie, Austria's capital, Vienna, has apple strudel, which is similar.

This typical Viennese dessert is a rectangular pastry containing apples, raisins, cinnamon, breadcrumbs, and sugar. Sometimes a tot of rum is added to it. Walnuts, pine nuts, or almonds are optional ingredients. It is important to make apple strudel pastry very thin.

Recipe for Zwetschkenfleck

There are three kinds of Austrian plum cakes, which are cookie-type cakes, cake-type cakes and yeasty ones. The following recipe makes a cake-type recipe and you will need to have a mixer to make it. The eggs must be beaten until they are fluffy and light, else the batter will not have the right consistency.

You can either do this by beating the eggs and sugar together for about ten minutes, by separating the whites and yolks and beating the whites, then adding the yolks alternating with the sugar, or by beating the whites until they are stiff and then beating the yolks with sugar, before combining the whole lot.

What you will need:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 1 lb pitted plums, cut in quarters or halves
• 1/2 lb all purpose flour
• 3 1/2 oz melted butter
• 3 1/2 oz water
• Powdered sugar, as needed

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cream the sugar with the eggs using your electric mixer. Slowly add the oil, then spoon in the flour gradually, alternating with the water. When the mixture is smooth, spread it into a parchment paper-lined jelly roll pan or a rimmed baking sheet. Leave a one inch border around the outside.

Cover the dough with the plums, skin side down and bake the cake for half an hour or until the fruit is soft, and the dough is golden brown. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the zwetschkenfleck and cut it into squares. Serve it with unsweetened whipped cream.