🍢 SNACK
Topfengolatsche (Austrian Quark Pastry)
Squares of buttery puff pastry wrapped around a lemony vanilla Topfen and raisin filling, the corners folded to the middle and baked golden, the pastry in every Viennese bakery window.
Austrian · easy · serves 8
prep 25 min · cook 20 min
~551 cal · 2g protein · 11g carbs · 57g fat · 0g fiber · 9g sugars · 35g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The Topfengolatsche is one of the fixtures of the Austrian bakery counter, and in Vienna it is bought on the way to work or in the afternoon with a coffee. Its name comes from the Czech koláč, and it is one of the pastries Austrian baking took from Bohemia.
The Austrian version is a closed square pocket. A square of pastry, either puff pastry or a Plunderteig, a laminated yeast dough, is filled with sweetened Topfen, the soft fresh curd cheese Austrians bake with, flavoured with vanilla and lemon zest and often dotted with raisins, and the four corners are folded over so they meet in the middle. It is brushed with egg and baked until puffed and golden, and dusted with icing sugar.
It is such a staple that Viennese newspapers and restaurant guides run tastings of the city's bakery Topfengolatschen, judging the flakiness of the pastry and the amount and flavour of the filling.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
- 2 sheets (about 550 g) all-butter puff pastry, ready-rolled
- 250 g Topfen (quark), drained
- 50 g icing sugar, plus more for dusting
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1/2 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 30 g raisins, optional
- 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
Instructions
- 1Heat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- 2Beat the Topfen with the icing sugar, vanilla sugar, lemon zest, egg yolk and cornstarch until smooth, then stir in the raisins if using.
- 3Unroll the pastry and cut it into 10 cm squares. Put a heaped tablespoon of filling in the middle of each.
- 4Fold two opposite corners over the filling so they overlap in the middle and press them together, then fold the other two corners over the top and press again. Set on the tray and brush with beaten egg.✎ Chef’s noteBrush only the top of the pastry, not the cut edges, or they stick together and the layers cannot rise.
- 5Bake for about 20 minutes, until puffed and deep golden. Cool on a rack and dust with icing sugar before serving.
Viennese bakery tradition, from the Bohemian koláč.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Vienna. The coffee house is a listed tradition. Vienna's was added to Austria's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage in 2011, and the description is exact about the furniture: marble-topped tables, Thonet chairs, newspapers on wooden holders, and a room where you consume time and space but pay only for the coffee.
🗺️
Austria. Austrian cuisine carries the elegance of the Habsburg empire, from crisp Wiener schnitzel to hearty dumplings and a world-class café and pastry culture. Sachertorte, strudel, and coffeehouse rituals define its sweet side.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Austria
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FrittatensuppeClear beef broth poured over ribbons of sliced savory pancake, a classic Viennese starter and light lunch.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it an Austria meal
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KaiserschmarrnDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Topfengolatsche (Austrian Quark Pastry)?
Squares of buttery puff pastry wrapped around a lemony vanilla Topfen and raisin filling, the corners folded to the middle and baked golden, the pastry in every Viennese bakery window.
Where does Topfengolatsche (Austrian Quark Pastry) come from?
Topfengolatsche (Austrian Quark Pastry) is an Austrian dish from Vienna, Austria.
Can Topfengolatsche (Austrian Quark Pastry) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Topfengolatsche (Austrian Quark Pastry) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Topfengolatsche (Austrian Quark Pastry) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Topfengolatsche (Austrian Quark Pastry) take to make?
About 45 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 8.
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