Demel

Demel on the Kohlmarkt was the confectioner to the imperial court and still behaves like it: a window of cakes like jewels, waitresses in black who address you in the third person, a Sachertorte with its own seal and a glass kitchen where the tortes are made in view.

Founded in 1786 and moved to the Kohlmarkt in 1857, Demel supplied the Habsburgs and kept the title; the shop has a window that is a Vienna sight, a ground floor of cakes and candied violets in painted boxes, a salon upstairs and an open bakery where the Annatorte, the Sachertorte, the Dobos and the strudel are made behind glass. The Demel Sachertorte is the rival of the hotel’s, with one layer of jam and a triangle seal.

It is the Vienna confectioner with the most theatre, and the candied violets are the gift.

What to buy

• A box of candied violets
• The Annatorte
• The Demel Sachertorte
• A strudel in the salon