6 places to get amazing cake to go with your coffee in Vienna

When I think of my Oma, I think of the fine cord braids at the bottom of her green suede lamp that I couldn’t keep my fingers away from, and her fabulous Powidlkipferl (small croissant-shaped pastry filled with plum marmalade).
A whole bunch of different, very elaborate cake and cookie creations were part of her repertoire. Very early on, I figured that Omas have magical baking powers.

Oma, or Omi, means granny in German, and is a very intimate term to call your grandmother. At Vollpension, a comfy café in Vienna’s 4th district, Omas are the bakers and the characters of the place. And while offering plates filled with cake and pastry art, they also fill you with that inexplicable warm homey-ness feeling they naturally emanate. The varieties of cakes served up here depends on which Oma is baking that day – each have their own specialty. One things for sure though, you’re cake cravings won’t be disappointed.

The atmosphere is made up of couches, random framed photos on the wall, bare brick and neon signs – it’s a very comfy place to stuff yourself with cake.

The mind behind Vienna’s Brass Monkey is a real whizz-kid: Athina Zoi is both a qualified mining engineer and sculptor, has started studying architecture, while she also makes a mad coffee, and bakes killer cupcakes for a living. At Brass Monkey, they serve up heavenly, creamy vegan-friendly cupcakes. It’s really a no-brainer why this place receives so much love from the people: the compact dimensions instantly make for a homey feeling, with the unusual mobile of old-school lamps hanging from the white ceiling, filling the room with a warm glow. The counter, fitted with Moroccan tiles, faces the large wooden table that encourages food and conversation with new friends to be shared. But all of this is just a setting to devour the creamy, buttery beauty that lies within the display cabinet – their cupcakes and cakes. You’ll dream about the toppings of these cute little cake creations long after you’ve devoured them… in a matter of minutes… without even pausing to chew.

If you haven’t been to the French Pâtisserie, Tart’aTata before, we strongly advise you to prepare for your first visit by tucking a napkin into your shirt collar. Or by dressing in a plastic poncho. The dainty, hand-crafted, and neatly presented chocolatey and sweet tarts, eclairs and other pimping pastries will have your mouth watering, no matter if you’ve just eaten a entire cow on the way there. You won’t be able to help yourself – expect disgusting gaping of the mouth and slobbering. They’ve installed windscreen wipers on their patisserie cabinet as it’s become a regular occurrence here (warning: slight exaggeration present).

The display case is filled with everything that a wet dream made in France would contain: Éclair, Pain au chocolat, Tarte au Citron, Mille-feuille, Brioche, Feuille abricot, Tarte aux pommes – all made by a professional pâtissier from France .

We tried the tarte au citron – our lips pursed like a homophobic’s bum in a gay club from the citrus tang, and the pastry is deliciously buttery.

This place gets lines out the door of tourists waiting for a seat in the city’s most famous coffeehouse, Cafe Central, and while that may seem like as big as a turn off as somebody picking a unidentifiable object out of their bellybutton and smelling it, if you’re craving quality cake, get your ass in line and wait. We don’t give a fuck how touristy this place is, the cakes are incredible. Every one of them is a work of art, and are bursting with flavours. And there are dozens of pro’ pastry chefs working from early in the morning until night preparing them. The Klimt surprise looks like something Klimt would paint, and harbours flavours that live up to its looks. Being a place where tourists flock to, they also have the Austrian classic sweets, like apple strudel and Punschkrapfen, while there are new house creations every time we visit (which is often, being the cake addicts we are). We’d suggest beating the crowds and enjoying this very special place in quiet, like it was before it got a serious case of tourist constipation, in the early morning – just in time for some cake for breakfast.

This sweet little place in the 5th district is serving up sweet little sweets, as sweet as sweet can be. We’re sorry. We ate too much cake upon our visit. Biscuits, pies, cakes and cupcakes match the sickly sweet pink of the wall. There’s also a few French patisserie classics that have found themselves into Rori’s cake collection, with the eclair being a favourite amongst many regulars. We’re also fans of the Pistachio cookies and the vibrant fruit cakes. The owner Rochel spent a bit of time in France learning the arts of the French patisserie, and this is evident in the taste.

This cosy little pastel coloured place is not shy about trumpeting what it’s good at – making cakes. Fat and sugar is it’s name, and that is exactly what is its game. It’s motto is – ‘cake makes you happy,’ and this is exactly what we plan to get written on our gravestone. They always have a different range of cakes passing through here, all being very tasty. You can be sure you’re in safe hands when the place your going to for cake is dedicated to fat and sugar. Beware: there’s only limited seating.