🥤 DRINK
Einspänner (Viennese Coffee with Whipped Cream)
A double Viennese Mokka poured into a handled glass and crowned with a tall dome of softly whipped Schlagobers, dusted with icing sugar and sipped hot through the cold cream.
Austrian · easy · serves 1
prep 5 min · cook 3 min
~221 cal · 1g protein · 6g carbs · 22g fat · 0g fiber · 6g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The Einspänner is one of the classics of the Viennese coffee house, served in a glass with a handle rather than a cup: strong black Mokka underneath and a thick cap of whipped cream, Schlagobers in Vienna, on top, with icing sugar to sprinkle over it.
Its name means a one-horse carriage. The usual story, told in Vienna's coffee houses and repeated in Austrian coffee writing, is that it was the drink of the Fiaker cab drivers of the nineteenth century, who held the glass in one hand and the reins in the other while they waited for fares. The cream on top kept the coffee hot for longer in the cold.
It is not a coffee to stir. The pleasure is in the contrast, the hot, strong coffee drawn up through the cool, sweet cream, and like every coffee in a Viennese Kaffeehaus it arrives with a glass of water on the side.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, egg-, 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 1
- 14 to 16 g finely ground coffee, for a double Mokka (double espresso)
- about 60 ml water, for brewing
- 60 ml whipping cream (Schlagobers), well chilled
- 1 tsp icing sugar, to dust and to taste
- 1 glass of cold water, to serve
Instructions
- 1Whisk the cold cream until it holds soft, creamy peaks that just stand up. Keep it cold until needed.✎ Chef’s noteLoose-creamy, not stiff. And sweeten with icing sugar, never granulated, which weighs the cream down.
- 2Rinse a heatproof glass with a handle in hot water so the coffee does not cool the moment it goes in.
- 3Brew a double Mokka (a double espresso, or strong coffee from a stovetop moka pot) and pour it into the warm glass, leaving about a third of the glass empty.
- 4Spoon the whipped cream gently on top to make a high dome over the coffee, and dust it with icing sugar.
- 5Serve at once on a small tray with a spoon and a glass of water. Do not stir: drink the hot coffee through the cold cream.
Viennese Kaffeehaus tradition.
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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. Viennese cooking is an inventory of an empire. Goulash came from Hungary, Buchteln and Powidl from the Czech lands, Palatschinken are claimed by the Romanians, and the whole assembly acquired the name Wiener Kuche in German cookbooks around the end of the eighteenth century. What Vienna added was the technique and the presentation rather than the dishes.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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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: Pot or saucepan, Whisk.
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it an Austria meal
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Drinks
Frequently asked questions
What is Einspänner (Viennese Coffee with Whipped Cream)?
A double Viennese Mokka poured into a handled glass and crowned with a tall dome of softly whipped Schlagobers, dusted with icing sugar and sipped hot through the cold cream.
Where does Einspänner (Viennese Coffee with Whipped Cream) come from?
Einspänner (Viennese Coffee with Whipped Cream) is an Austrian dish from Vienna, Austria.
Can Einspänner (Viennese Coffee with Whipped Cream) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Einspänner (Viennese Coffee with Whipped Cream) 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 Einspänner (Viennese Coffee with Whipped Cream) 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 Einspänner (Viennese Coffee with Whipped Cream) take to make?
About 8 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 3 minutes cooking), serving 1.
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