{"id":22711,"date":"2020-04-10T05:10:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T04:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=22711"},"modified":"2025-11-12T11:38:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T10:38:34","slug":"gugelhupf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/gugelhupf\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gugelhupf"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/guglhupf.jpg\" alt=\"A whole Guglhupf cake\" class=\"wp-image-22712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/guglhupf.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/guglhupf-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Instantly recognisable thanks to its unique shape, the unobtrusive <em>Gugelhupf <\/em>enjoys an aristocratic history and a special place in Viennese hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sponge-like cake, usually marbled in the Viennese version<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Apparently much loved by Emperor Franz Joseph<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Known for the indented surface and characteristic ring-shaped baking tray<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/vienna-cakes\/\">Vienna cakes<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/traditional-food-drink\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1654\">What to eat in Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is a Gugelhupf?<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/guglhupf.jpg\" alt=\"A Guglhupf cake\" class=\"wp-image-45085\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/guglhupf.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/guglhupf-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The classic version. I accept full responsibility for the missing piece)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Various recipes exist for this sponge-like cake. But the Gugelhupf&#8217;s distinctive characteristics are its shape, colour and texture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Vienna, nearly every Gugelhupf you find has two colours (sponge yellow and chocolate brown), giving it the appearance of a marble cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most bakers add a dusting of icing sugar to the finished product; a coffee house or Konditorei (confectionery) may also serve it with whipped cream to take the edge off the relatively dry consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The baking tin (similar to the Bundt mould popular in the USA) is circular with angled grooves on the outside and a <em>Schornstein <\/em>(&#8220;chimney&#8221;) in the middle. This gives the Gugelhupf its characteristic outer texture and tall, ring-like shape. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gugelhupfbakingtins.jpg\" alt=\"Gugelhupf baking tins\" class=\"wp-image-45084\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gugelhupfbakingtins.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gugelhupfbakingtins-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Various Gugelhupf moulds we use at home)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although a firm favourite on coffee tables throughout Vienna, the cake&#8217;s origins go so far back in history that we can&#8217;t say for sure if it&#8217;s an Austrian original.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What we do know is that the Gugelhupf&#8217;s true home is in Central Europe in general, the lands of the former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/austria-hungary\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"12858\">Austro-Hungarian empire<\/a> in particular, and the city of Vienna most of all (though places like the Alsace might argue otherwise).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The presence of the classic baking mould throughout history certainly hints at the cake&#8217;s age; archaeologists found similar moulds in Roman excavations at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/mapsgeography\/carnuntum\/\">Carnuntum<\/a>, for example, just down the river from Vienna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Another imperial connection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The defining era, however, for the Gugelhupf was not Imperial Rome but the 19th century, when it migrated from a banal cake to a sort of status symbol served at breakfast or with your mid-morning (or mid-afternoon) coffee or tea.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sliceguglhupf.jpg\" alt=\"A slice of Gugelhupf\" class=\"wp-image-45086\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sliceguglhupf.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sliceguglhupf-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The classic internal colours)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A big boost to the cake&#8217;s social credentials allegedly came from the influence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/franz-joseph\/\">Kaiser Franz Joseph<\/a> (1830-1916).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scholars associate the reign of Franz Joseph with many notable moments of history. The establishment of Austria-Hungary, for example, or the start of the First World War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the kitchens of Vienna, however, people tend to remember the well-moustachioed monarch through his connection to such dishes as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/kaiserschmarren\/\">Kaiserschmarrn<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/tafelspitz\/\">Tafelspitz<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gugelhupf appears to be another food that received a thumbs up from the Kaiser. Frankly, he seems to have spread his love of food around a lot of dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"337\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/katharinaschratt.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white photo of an 18th-century aactress\" class=\"wp-image-87029\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/katharinaschratt.jpg 337w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/katharinaschratt-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Katharina Schratt, &#8220;friend&#8221; to Kaiser Franz Joseph; photographed around 1880-1890 by Adele Perlmutter (Atelier Ad\u00e8le); Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 72732\/127; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The actress, Katharina Schratt (1853-1940), enjoyed a close platonic (or not?) friendship with Franz Joseph. He regularly visited her at home in Vienna or in the country, where (so the story goes) she would serve him Gugelhupf. Hence the association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>True or not, we do know that Gugelhupf enjoyed particularly popularity during the 1800s, especially in Vienna, and it&#8217;s from this time that the cake likely inherited a somewhat aristocratic aura that continues today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to get a Gugelhupf in Vienna<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It won&#8217;t be hard to find. The last Gugelhupf I ate came from a standard bakery chain. Most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/coffee-houses\/\">coffee houses<\/a> and your local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/konditorei\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"23020\">Konditorei<\/a> should have one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As always, bon app\u00e9tit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Instantly recognisable thanks to its unique shape, the unobtrusive Gugelhupf enjoys an aristocratic history and a special place in Viennese hearts. What is a Gugelhupf? (The classic version. I accept full responsibility for the missing piece) Various recipes exist for this sponge-like cake. But the Gugelhupf&#8217;s distinctive characteristics are its shape, colour and texture. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-food","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22711"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87030,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22711\/revisions\/87030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}