Salzburger Nockerl

Salzburger Nockerl is whipped egg-white batter mounded into three soft peaks and baked until golden outside and barely set within. It's Salzburg's soufflé dessert, and the three peaks are shaped deliberately to echo the hills surrounding the city — this isn't an incidental presentation choice, it's the entire visual point of the dish.

What it actually is

Egg whites whip to soft peaks and fold gently with sugar, egg yolk and a little flour, kept as light and airy as possible without deflating. The batter mounds into a buttered dish in three distinct peaks, echoing the shape of hills, and bakes hot and fast until the outside sets golden while the inside stays soft, barely cooked through — closer to a warm cloud than a firm cake.

It has to be served the instant it leaves the oven. Like any soufflé-style bake, it starts collapsing within minutes as the trapped air cools and escapes — a Salzburger Nockerl that's rested even briefly has already lost the tall, airy peaks it's meant to arrive with.

How it's served

• Straight from the oven, dusted with icing sugar, often with fruit compote alongside.
• As a dessert, made and baked to order, never ahead of time.
• Immediately, before the peaks begin to sink.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag egg, gluten and dairy; all are structural to the batter.
• Say that it's baked to order, since the timing between oven and table matters more than for most desserts.
• Note that it will begin to collapse within minutes, so guests should be told to eat it promptly.
• Mention that it's naturally vegetarian.