I am just back from a wonderful long weekend in Vienna. My lovely German friend Maren had organised the trip and we rendezvous'd at Vienna airport. With a visit to the ballet Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Opera House, a performance by the Spanish Riding School, a ride in a pony and trap around the town and a Mozart concert, it was certainly a whirlwind packed weekend. However the main purpose of the trip with was sample all the wonderful Austrian cakes. My favourite bakery (and there are literally hundreds to choose from) was Demel - the confectionners for the Royal household - founded in 1786. The shop and cafe was steeped in baking history, with vintage cake tins and moulds. We loved it so much that we managed 4 visits in 48 hours - impressive even by my standards!! If you go, take a seat in the cafe at the back of the shop as you can sit and watch the bakers working through the large glass windows. These are some of their wonderful cakes - my favourite was the GIANT pistachio macaroon. How yummy would that be to eat! Their sugar decorations were impressive too and we loved the sugar Eiffel Tower with tennis ball made to celebrate this weeks tournament at Roland Garros.