Austria-Hungary, the former Hapsburg Empire and the political units that have succeeded it, has one of the richest sweet food traditions anywhere. Much of this has to do with its location at the heart of Europe. Every cuisine emerges from a juncture of geography, history, and culture. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the countries that once made up the Central European Hapsburg Empire, officially renamed Austria-Hungary in 1867 and finally disbanded in 1918. Today, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, and parts of Italy, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine all share the imperial heritage.
