In present day Budapest these long sought after sweets are still a major part of the culture. If you come to Budapest and never try a slice of Dobos Torta or Gerbeaud Szelet then it will have been a wasted trip.

Gerbeaud
1051 Budapest, V District, Dorottya utca 1, Hungary. +36-1/429-9000
(Take Metro line 1(yellow) to the last stop Vörösmarty Tér.) 9-21 daily.

Gerbeaud Café is one of the oldest coffeehouses in Budapest. It was started in 1858, and moved to its current location at Vörösmarty Tér in 1870. It was started by a long line of pastry chefs who had worked on perfecting cakes and pastries for generations.

Café Gerbeaud became one of he most well regarded coffeehouses in central Europe which led to it‘s creation of some unique pastries that you can only find here in Budapest. If you are looking for a piece of 19th century grandure that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is known for go to the Café Gerbeaud for a coffee and one of their world famous pastries.

If you have a group of 10 or more people Gerbeaud also has a set menu of cakes and snacks that can be prepared ahead of  time for you and your company. Just make sure you call ahead to researve the special treat.

Jégbüfé
1053 Budapest, Farenciek tere 10, Budapest Hungary.
(Take Metro line 3(Blue) to Farenciek Tere) Thursday –Tuesday 7-21, Wednesday 7-19

This centrally located pastry shop is a unique relic of the Coffeehouse culture of the early 20th century. On the outside in good weather there are windows serving waffles, and ice cream to people on the go. Inside there are many cases of cakes and pastries waiting just for you.

One thing to be cautious of is how you pay. When you walk in you eye the pastries and cakes, then you get inline at the cashregister. You tell the cashier what you would like, they print out a number for you, then the people behind the cases package up your pastries. Not too difficult if you know what to expect.

Sugar Shop
1042 Petőfi Út 35, Budapest Hungary. +36-1/272-0292
Monday- Sunday 10-20

Compared with the rest of the baking culture in Budapest Sugar Shop is a refreshing, modern experience. Here you can find any kind of confectionary you might dream about: Budapest‘s own Willie Wanka Chocolate factory. Sugar Shop offers a wide range of cakes, cookies, chocolates, candies and lolli-pops.

They also cater to special events with cakes, and individual pastries. With an English speaking staff, all you have to worry about is what flavour jelly-bean you want instead of how do you say this in Hungarian. This is not the traditional bake shop by any means, yet it is a great one stop shop for all your sweet indulgances.

There are many more coffeehouses around the city that have traditional pastries.

Words by Hilary Frink for XpatLoop.com