Cookies & Doughnuts

Tell Herr Ober (the generic name for a coffeehouse’s waiter) that you want “just a little something to go with the coffee,” and you’re likely to get an assortment of cookies. They are called Kaffeegebäck or Teegebäck, indicating to anyone with an Austro-Hungarian palate that they are baked goods meant to be paired with coffee or tea. So much for the all-American combination of cookies and milk.

During the Christmas holiday season when gingerbread-like Lebkuchen and Honigkuchen (spiced cookies and honey cake) make their annual appearance, it may seem like the cookie selection is endless. But the rest of the year cookies take a backseat, and Torten return to the display windows.