Johann Ströck had been a successful baker in Kittsee -- a town in the state of Burgenland famous for its apricots -- when, in 1970, he relocated his family to Vienna and opened a bakery at Langobardenstrasse 9 in the 22nd district on the northern or other side of the Danube. The operation began with only a small selection of baked goods including Gugelhupf on Thursdays and Krapfen during the festival of Fasching; Ströck delivered part of his selection to marketplaces and milk shops in a VW van. Following a stroke, Johann handed the business over to his son, Gerhard, in 1977, and in this generation's hands, the business' expansion kicked into top gear, developing the production of baked goods that could be delivered to branches frozen before being baked and selling products to Viennese supermarkets. In 1989, Ströck opened its first production facility, and in 1999, its second.
If you live in Vienna, at some point in time you've probably visited a Ströck. Its 70 branches employing around 1,700 workers are planted far and wide across the Austrian capital. Its place among the bakeries was recognised in 2007 when a street running alongside one of their two production facilities was named in honour of Johann Ströck. Among its noteworthy cakes and pastries are its Topfengolatsche and its Krapfen, the latter filled with apricot marmalade made with fruits grown in the region from which the Ströck family stem. The Italiener, the Rosini, the Omas Kipferl, the Riviera-Stangerl filled with vanilla pudding and cranberries -- the list goes on. But one particular highlight I shall leave you with is the Apfelschnecke. To be found only in the wintertime, and as such to be treasured as a seasonal delight, the Apfelschnecke is essentially a glazed donut made with slices of apple that are rolled up inside the dough prior to baking and glazing. In the words of a well-known television cook, how bad can that be?
