Some of the most extraordinary cakes in Ljubljana are found at Zvezda (which means “star”), one of a small local chain of fashionable patisseries. If the idea of Mitteleuropa makes you dream of sitting for long spells at a café decked in flowers, eating cakes, sipping coffee, thinking Great Thoughts, and possibly sketching in a notebook with your head at a rakish slant, this is the place to live out that fantasy. All of Slovenia is west of Vienna, the heart of middle Europe, so it follows that its capital has its own grand café tradition. 

You can lose yourself in rows of jewel box cakes calling out to you from the vitrine here. The most traditional are Prekmurska gibanica (a filling layer cake from Prekmurje, eastern Slovenia, made of poppy seeds, apples, walnut, and sweet curd cheese), kremna rezina (a famous cake from Lake Bled, with custard and cream sandwiched between millefeuille), and strudel (that one you probably know, as it is a pan-alpine favorite, but I love their warm plum is truly special). You can also try their potica, Slovenia’s national dessert, a sort of breadier bundt cake rolled in walnuts.

Their original cakes are just as worthy of attention: “chocolate dream cake” is an ultra-sophisticated Nutella mousse situation. There’s also the pear crostata or the ultra-dense, death-by-chocolate “chocolatino.” Don’t worry, your slice will be flanked with whipped cream.