The Schneeball (plural Schneeballen, "snowballs") is Rothenburg's signature food and appears in every shop window in the old town. The pastry is made from shortcrust dough rolled around a special wooden form, deep-fried into a rough ball about the size of a tennis ball, then finished with icing sugar, cinnamon sugar, chocolate, nougat, marzipan, or any combination of coatings the maker feels like. The plain icing-sugar version is the traditional one; the chocolate-coated versions are for tourists who want a souvenir that looks good on Instagram.
The taste is mild — a light, crumbly fried pastry that is slightly sweet and not particularly substantial. It is not a revelation, but that misses the point. The Schneeball is entirely specific to Rothenburg, with no meaningful equivalent anywhere else in Germany, and eating one while walking the old town lanes is part of what a visit here feels like. The bakery on Hafengasse, Bäckerei Friedel, is generally considered the best traditional version in town.
As a souvenir, packaged Schneeballen travel reasonably well for a day or two. As a meal, they are an inadequate substitute for lunch but a perfectly good mid-morning snack on the walls.