Cafe zum Sahneberg in the Bavarian Forest, Germany

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Find similar recipes to the wonderful desserts in this post

in my cookbook: ATFT Germany

– and full instructions on how to make them in the States:


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This post was originally published on September 10, 2014 and updated on July 23, 2019.

I’ve been telling you about my vacation in the Bavarian Forest (Bayerischer Wald), including the dragon slaying drama (Drachenstich), and now I want to describe another highlight of the trip, a visit to Cafe zum Sahneberg, high on a mountainside in the village of Lohberg.

Here’s an example of the vistas from the surrounding countryside:

Our friends, Hilde and Adi, with whom we shared the vacation, directed us to the cafe. They had been going there for many years and wanted to treat us. We made several unbelievable turns in and through a couple of small villages perched on a mountainside then drove up and up on a country road:
It was so convoluted and tortuous that I thought our guides, who are much older than we are, hadn’t remembered the way correctly, maybe even had some early Alzheimers symptoms! Eventually, though, we reached a gravel parking lot with a promising sign:
From that parking lot you still have a little trek through the woods to find the cafe. Fortunately we were able to use Adi’s handicap parking permit and drive straight through to the cafe.
What a cute little place! Here’s the door:
And inside is a beautiful, bright dining room filled with every kind of coffee and tea service you can imagine as decoration:
 Cleverest of all, they even use old coffee filter holders for the sugar bowls:
But, as charming as the decor is, the real stars of the show are the lighter-than-cloud cream tortes. In fact, Sahneberg in German means “cream mountain” in English. It is named appropriately. I still can’t believe I had such a light, airy, sweet and tasty cream cake in Germany. It’s just not typical German pastry.
The first time we went (we made Hilde and Adi take us back a second time that week and I’ve been there a third time on a daytrip!) I had the Jamaican rum-coconut-pineapple torte:
Adi had the cognac-pear torte:
We sat outside on the terrace under market umbrellas and enjoyed the view of the cows on the opposite slope and the farmhouse below in the valley. To give you an idea of how giant the portions are, check out a snapshot of our group:
My husband James had the blueberry pie on our second visit:
And this was his chocolate milk:

Hilde had the Eierlikörkuchen, a torte made with egg-custard liqueur:

I had the mandarin-Grand Marnier torte:

The third time I went I had the raspberry-mascarpone torte, but I don’t have a photo of that one. Guess I was hungry!

I just want to rave and rave about these desserts. I don’t know how they get so much volume in the whipped cream or in the cakes themselves. Hilde and I tried to get the recipes, but of course we were politely refused.

The selection of cream tortes is different each day, so you have a little surprise in store each time you go, but each cake is better than the last. In addition, the coffee is great and the staff is super-friendly. They even speak English. Also, the prices are very, very low. I would probably go there once a week if the place wasn’t two hours away! I’m still considering it.

You can see Sahneberg is surrounded by woods. On our last visit, James and I explored the trails a little. We discovered that one of the trails is designated Gläserner Steig, which means “glass trail”. Historically, glass-making was the prevalent occupation in the region. You can visit sites of former glassmaking centers along the 96-km trail. You can see the little man blowing glass on the trail signs:

Of course, we didn’t walk far enough to see any glassmaker’s huts, being weighed down by those light desserts and all. Maybe next time.
I highly recommend Sahneberg for a fantastic dessert and scenic overlook. If you visit, I’ll take you there personally!
Photo for No Apparent Reason: