Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague

This book was such a great idea. Kudos to the author for conceiving of this and gathering all the recipes. This is truly an awesome book. If you travel a lot or watch many travel shows and love coffee and desserts this book is for you!

Rick Rodgers has written *the* definitive guide to the elegant desserts and coffee drinks found in historic Austro-Hungarian cafes. The beautifully illustrated book features interior photographs of several landmark cafes in their Art Deco glory, along with mouthwatering close-ups of featured recipes such as Linzertorte, Sachertorte, strudel, and schnecken.Recipes begin with basic doughs, such as Viennese Sweet Yeast Dough, sponge cake, and puff pastry, which form the basis for many later recipes. Various icings and glazes (fruit, chocolate, and sugar) are also included, as are flavored whip creams. The book is appropriately divided into simple cakes (apricot tart, farmer's cheesecake, coffee cakes, gugelhupf, pound cakes, plum squares), fancy cakes (linzertorte, sachertorte, various cream and chocolate tortes), strudels (sour cherry, grape, pear, farmer's cheese and raisin), sweet yeast breads (brioche braid, stollen, jam rolls and sweet rolls, dumplings, kolacky), cookies and doughnuts, pancakes and sweet omelets, and coffee beverages.Rogers also includes a "personal coffee house guide" that offers a tour of some of the more famous (and memorable) cafes (given that several years have passed since the book's publication, hours may have changed). Several e-commerce websites are included, and an in-depth bibliography is included as well. The Index thankfully includes the recipe's German titles as well as the English, so if you're more familiar with the German recipe titles, looking them up is a breeze.The yeast recipes in particular are superb, particularly the brioche braid, stollen, and the cream puffs, made in  Nordic Ware Danish Ebelskiver Iron .The book's layout deserves a special mention as well. Grounded in Art Nouveau, the numerous page numbers and inserts make use of Alphonse Mucha's vine-and-flowers motif. Inserts feature stories behind famous recipes such as the Linzertorte and Sachertorte, or about the landmark cafes and their role in the Austro-Hungarian empire's history. It's beautiful to look at even in you never make a single recipe.

One day the kitchen gods smiled on me and I was able to pick up a copy of this out of print gem for around $30. I am glad I snapped it up. Part wonderfully photographed travelogue, part history ( including some old wives tales) and part baking book. I thought the art nouveau styling of the book added to it's charm. All of the pictures and style are just window dressing. Only the recipes matter and of the 20 or so I have made from this book each has been stunning. Some require some kitchen heavy lifting and can appear complicated but I found the instructions clear and easy to follow.I even tried a few recipes with a family member just starting to cook and they came out perfectly.I get that some people want different types of measurements but I don't think they are always required. I have been baking at home for 20+ years and just bought a scale a few years ago. I am pretty sure that for almost 20 years I was able to bake without a scale and as much as I like to have on now, I can live without it.This title has finally been republished!In the new edition the recipes are exactly the same while the cafe information has been updated. No new recipes but for those hesitant to order a used book or unwilling to pay the OOP prices it is available again.http://www.amazon.com/Kaffeehaus-Exquisite-Desserts-Classic-Budapest/dp/1626548749/ref=la_B001H6EPKM_1_10_title_1_har?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419529277&sr=1-10

I bought this cook book before it escalated to the present $90 + dollar price, and I must say, to those of you contemplating buying it now - that it is probably still worth it. I have no culinary background, just a fondness for cooking, and I was able to reproduce the Esterhazyschniten that is featured on the cover of this cookbook, and mine turned out looking almost identical. The history, photos and recipes in the book are fantastic - I have made several now and all yield excellent results, including the Poppy seed cake and the Schniten above and a delightful triple layered cake with walnut, apples and poppy seeds. I gave that one to some other "gastronomes" who were delighted with it. The only thing I am lacking for creating more of these authentic desserts is time; the instructions are thorough, the recipes precise, and the history captivating. Buy the best coffee your grocer provides and create one of these almost heavenly delights. Its almost as good as renewing your passport and going there!I bought one of these for a dear friend in addition to my own copy. I highly recommend this book! I would not hesitate to buy anything from this author, as he is logical and easy to follow. He manages to convey some of the fun that he had in experiencing the coffee hauses for himself. That makes this cookbook diverting.

A wonderful book of history and recipes.I have baked the Viennese Pound Cake from the book. Instructions was easy to follow. My husband loved the cake. I also did the Chocolate "Saddle of Venison" cake. We loved it. My sister is asking me to cost my ingredients because she said this is the perfect cake to bring to parties. I even ordered a gugelhupf mold so I can bake Rick Rodgers gugelhupf cakes.

I would have loved this book if the recipes would use grams for dry ingredients and litre divisions for liquid ingredients. This is the way Europeans cook. We also weight the fruits, so what means 2 pints of strawberries in kg? I am completely lost...I did my own Dobosh torte, and Sahertorte, and the recipes in the book look promising similar. I would have liked more photos and a better editing, but otherwise, this is a nice book, good for reading, but may be not as good as a recipe book to be used in the kitchen.Unfortunately, the book is designed only to people living in US.

A very readable coverage of the traditional café culture in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Many workable menus albeit in American cup measures, although there is a conversion table. Anecdotes, a guide to the best Kaffeehauser - a book for the bedside as well as the kitchen

this book was on my buying list for too long. and finally it is in my shelf now. author gives wonderful stories, photos and recipes. liked it a lot.

Fantastic recipes inside, good photos on smooth paper, easy to clean too.