Desserts in Vienna

... a bakery/cafe list as a self-made/guided desert food tour ...

This is not mutually inclusive, i.e. not all cafés have excellent desserts (e.g. Sperl) and vice versa.

... a bar/restaurant with good view of the city/Christmas lights ...

Most renowned hotels have a roof-top bar and/or a roof-top restaurant.

These are the highest:
57 Restaurant & Lounge (DC Tower 1)
Donauturm (Danube Tower)

You mention it; sacher Torte at Demel. My wife and I weren’t overly impressed by the torte, but we liked the shop itself. We liked the other dessert that we had better.

I'll be watching this thread with interest. I've spent an embarrassing amount of time on this exact topic for my upcoming Vienna trip. This is what my notes have been narrowed down to (I have about a dozen tentatively crossed off, but this list changes all the time). These are in no specific order and who knows how many I'll actually get to...or maybe I'll eat at the ones I crossed off after all.

• Bäckerei Arthur Grimm (oldest bakery in Vienna)
• Café Landtmann
• Cafe Diglas
• Café Sperl
• Gerstner Cafe
• Cafe Schwarzenberg
• Café Frauenhuber (oldest café in Vienna)
• Café Jelinek
• Vollpension

Wherever you go it will be expensive for a dessert and a coffee.
Sacher torte is too dry for me.
The markets have desserts much cheaper but you take back to hotel or eat standing up.
American apple pie is better than strudel.
Of course you have to try them in Vienna.

The best cakes, IMHO, you can get at Konditorei Oberlaa. They have about 10 outlets now. When being in the city's center I prefer the one on Neuer Markt. Alternatively, after a nice walk through Oberlaa Park you may go to their very first place (where the name comes from). For a few years there is even one in Central Cemetery.

Oberlaa has a huge selection of little handmade chocolates, a really nice takeaway.

I am not a fan of Sacher Torte, especially not at Sacher, but at Oberlaa it is edible.

Should you be interested in Strudel, so watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEb-PxLZUBc

Lukas Mraz, renowned chef (two Michelin stars) of the eponymous restaurant, is taking on the topic in a funny way.

I concur with wmt1! We spent five days in Vienna and I still dream about the petit fours and other deserts from Konditorei Oberlaa. This location is charming and beautiful and had a nice waiter. As mentioned they have other locations, some without the charm you may be seeking, but you will not be disappointed with the desserts.
ALT-WIENER KAFFEEHAUS OBERLAA
Dommayergasse 1
1130 Wien

This location is in Heitzing which is about .8 mile walking from Shroebrunn Palace, or you can take a short trip on the tram from the stop outside the Palace to the Heitzing stop and walk a few blocks through Heitzing. While in Heitzing, there are some nice shops and a lovely park.

Our visit to Cafe Sperl was disappointing due mainly to the unplesant waiter and a dry tart. Cannot recommend.

Thank you!
For anyone following their website
https://oberlaa-wien.at/en/ has of all their locations in an easy to follow format.
And probably obvious to many but this explains the numbers. http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/districts-vienna.htm

Well now Konditorei Oberlaa has been added to my list, but maybe it evens out if I skip Sperl (thanks, Therese).

Was in Vienna two weeks ago and preferred my cake at 15 süße Minuten Café - Bäckerei over the cake at Cafe Sperl. They're 3 blocks away from each other.

What cake did you have, Art?

I had Mohnkuchen (poppyseed cake) at 15. They had a lot of delicious things in the display case. The apricot cake at Sperl was average.

The apricot cake at Sperl was average.

Café Sperl is very old and traditional. In former times you went there for a coffee and reading the newspapers for hours. Eating there was not the primary goal. For a good meal you went to a restaurant, for a good cake you went to a Konditorei (confectionery). Nowadays cafés cannot survive having solely customers drinking one coffee only during several hours. So serving food became more and more important, although it is not their core business.

K.u.K. Hofzuckerbäcker L. Heiner

It sounds like you have already read my previous recommendations. If you write me a message I'll tell you some of my secret places that I don't want to post here. The best apfelstrudel is at Landtmann or Sperl (do not be dissuaded by the above comments). Do not go inside Demel - just line up outside and get the Kaiserschmarrn to go - it is fantastic. Schleifmuhlgasse is listed above, but that is a street name, not a bakery. The chocolate mousse cake from Oberlaa is the best chocolate cake you can get in Vienna - this is much better than a Sachertorte. In my opinion, Cafe Diglas has the best cakes overall in the city.

For a bar/restaurant with a good view of lights, I do love Neni am Prater, but only in the summer as the view is of the rides in the amusement park, which won't be lit at this time of year in the same way. The Ritz Carlton does a rooftop thing at Christmas. There is also the Lamee Hotel, with a nice rooftop bar. The classic is the Sky Bar in the Steffl department store. The DO & CO at Stephansplatz also has great views.

The best apfelstrudel is at Landtmann or Sperl ...

To get a better overview watch this funny short video (having English subtitles and commentary), in which a famous chef (awarded with 2 Michelin stars) of a Viennese restaurant is dealing with this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEb-PxLZUBc