Foodies and a fortress

 I always try to take a cooking class when I travel, and over the years I have learned to make zuppa di farro and tiramisu in Lucca, Italy and baguette and fougasse in Paris, France. Today's adventure was a traditional Salzburger Nockerl and apple strudel.

I found the Edelweiss Cooking School through Get Your Guide.

On arrival we were welcomed by our instructor, Leonardo, and were asked to wash up and don aprons. Looking around the kitchen, which is built into a cave, we discovered stations set out with baking tools, strudel sheets and bowls of peeled and sliced apples.

Other guests began to arrive, mostly from the United States and one couple from Strasbourg, France, and we got to know each other a little before the cooking demo started.

Leonardo showed us how to roll out the pre-made dough and gently stretch it on the backs of your hands to make it as thin as possible. The goal is to get the pastry so fine that you could read the newspaper through it! He fine-tuned the edges and used a pizza cutter to trim the circle neatly. Adding the filling, he turned the sides over and showed us how to roll a strudel by lifting up one side of the mat - it spun along, wrapping itself up as we looked on and gasped in awe. He also showed us a neat trick for tipping the strudel into the baking pan.

Then it was our turn. We returned to our stations where we mixed sugar and cinnamon into our apples, then  sprinkled the cloth generously with flour, gently rolled the dough into a pizza sized circle. We worked with Leonardo to turn the dough in the air with the back of our hands, stretching it out until it covered most of the table. After drizzling it with butter and sprinkling it with bread crumbs, we added the filling and tried the mat trick with success!

Once the strudels were baking we were shown how to make a nockerl - a traditional egg soufflé inspired by Salzburg's mountains. We the whipped egg whites with sugar, folded in beaten yolks, added flour and vanilla-cornstarch powder, folded it again, and scooped the airy mass into a scraper to tuck gently into a baking dish on top of a tart jam.

Tidying up, we rearranged the tables for a communal feast. Everyone was served goulash and then we enjoyed our freshly baked treats.

Bidding farewell to our new friends we picked up a few groceries and wandered back to our hotel, stopping at a few Sound of Music sites in the Mirabell gardens.

The weather held - no rain - despite the chill in the air, we we took a walk through part of the old town to catch the funicular up to Fortress Hohensalzburg.

It is well worth the trip for the stunning views of the city below, and the site dates back to the twelfth century. We skipped the small museums and just wandered, checking out various nooks and crannies.

Chilled and ready to feast, we headed back to the apartment to make the most of today's grocery shopping ... followed by leftover strudel.

Tomorrow we will indulge our geeky side with a full day Sound of Music tour and a side trip to Hallstat.