Kurtos Kalacs, Chimney Cake of Hungary
What is traveling to a country and not tasting its traditional cuisine! I am highlighting here one Hungarian pastry: the Kurtos Kalacs. Kürtős in Hungarian language means chimney and Kalács means cake… so that makes it Chimney Cake. Other names for this oldest pastry in Hungary are: Stove Cake, Chimney Cone, Funnel Cake, Spit Cake, Sekler, Kurtos Calac. How is that for a bite!
Chimney Cake of Hungary
Well, this street food of Hungary actually gave us company during our strolls in the streets of Budapest till it vanished into our hungry tummies. At one place in the streets of Buda castle hill, I was lucky to witness the chimney cake machine and how this pastry is made.
The pre-prepared dough balls of milk, yeast, sugar, flour, eggs, salt, and butter were neatly stacked. I made a quick mental note of the flavoring ingredients there: nuts, cinnamon, almonds, coconut, hazelnuts, walnuts, sugar.
However when I queried about the measure of the ingredients, the chimney cake makers around were tight lipped about it. The preparation time is more, while actual cooking time of kurtoskalacs is just ten minutes or may be even less.
Strips of dough – Kurtos Kalacs
Chimney Cake dough rolled on tapered cylindrical spit and then baked over an open fire
Baking Process of Kurtos Kalacs
Kürtőskalács, local Hungarian name for Chimney Cake, is a delightful pastry made from relatively hard and dry yeast-based dough. We stood watching the young lady baker make four chimney cakes for us.
The lady in charge rolled flat the balls of dough, she then cut them into thin strips. The strips were then carefully wrapped over what looked like wooden cylinders, a spit, in a twisted pattern forming a helix.
Next, to enhance its flavor and texture, she rolled the dough-covered spit in sugar and brushed with melted butter. For the coconut flavoured chimney cake she rolled the creamy wet dough in a tray filled with desiccated coconut.
Kurtoskalacs
The baking of kürtős kalács is a crucial step in achieving its signature appearance and taste. The wooden spool is slowly turned over an open fire. The cake is ready when its surface takes on an even, brownish-red color, indicating that it has been cooked to perfection. I saw her toast it in oven for 10 minutes max.
Kurtos Kalacs Origins
This unique pastry is believed to have its origins in Transylvania, but they’re now most celebrated as the oldest pastry in Hungary, and are available as street food. Hungarian: Kürtőskalács or Kurtosh Kolach; Romanian: Colac/Cozonac secuiesc; German: Baumstriezel, is specific to Hungarians from Transylvania (Romania), more specifically the Székelys.
The first recipe for the cake appears in a Transylvanian cookbook written in 1784 by Countess Mária Mikes, wife of István Dániel. Sources from the 15th and 16th centuries prove that this cake originates from German gastronomy, from where it was brought to Hungarian and Czech speaking areas.
Record for records: 16.7m long Kürtőskalács was made at the Oroszfalu (Rusu de Sus) Village Fest in Transylvania.
Kurtoskalacs coated with desiccated coconut
Recipe for Kurtos Kalacs
Here is a recipe if you wish to try making one. It will be easy if you have the rotisserie oven.
INGREDIENTS
Kürtőskalács can be exclusively made from natural ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, yeast, and salt. However, variations of kürtőskalács may incorporate synthetic ingredients, with only margarine and vanilla sugar powder being exceptions.
To further enhance the aromas and flavors of kürtőskalács, a final topping can be added to the completed cake. Any topping that does not contain salt, cheese, meat, or non-confectionery ingredients can be used to personalize the pastry and create a unique taste experience.
1 egg; beaten, 4 egg yolks, 1/4 litre water, 2 kg Flour, 1/4 kg Sugar, 1/4 kg Butter; melted, 1 pinch Salt, 3 g yeast.
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix the ingredients well into smooth dough. Let the dough rise for half an hour. Divide them to 16 equal parts. Let it rest covered to rise to double size. Flatten out the balls of dough and cut them into strips. Stretch and roll them onto the wooden spit. Roll them into sugar. Grill it over coal, or bake in a electric or gas oven. Grill it until sugar has a golden-brown color. Then you can roll it in coconuts, walnuts, cocoa powder, vanilla and sugar mix, broken nuts, cinnamon, poppy seeds, or leave it the way it came out from the oven, that is the classic one.
variation of the recipe from: https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/chimney-cake/165189
Different types of Chimney Cakes
While kürtőskalács has its own distinct characteristics, it is closely related to other pastries in certain regions.
- The Transylvanian Saxon Baumstriezel, for example, shares a cylindrical shape with kürtőskalács rather than a helix.
- Skalicky Trdelnik from Slovakia (formerly Upper Hungary) and Trdelnice/Trdelnik from the Czech-Moravian region also resemble Kürtős kalács, but they differ in the absence of a caramel sugar glaze on their surface.
- Size wise, the Trdelnik is smaller than the Kurtoskalacs
- Lithuanian Spit Cake.
- Hungarian kürtőskalács are related to German Baumkuchen, Old German Ayrkuchen or Spiesskuchen
- Austrian Prügeltorte
- Saxon Baumstriezel
- Swedish Spettekaka
- Czech Trdlo
- French Ragoulis/šakotis/sękacz/gâteau-à-la-broche
The baker of Chimney cake
Taste of Kurtos: Chimney cake or Kurtos has a caramelised crispy flaky outer with soft inner walls. They are best when they are just hot off the fire.
But, why the name chimney: It didn’t take long to figure it out why the cake had such a unique name. Its cylindrical shape resembles a chimney which is formed by rolling the dough around a wooden spit that rotates over hot cinders. As the baking progresses the sprinkling of sugar seeps in a bit and when cooled forms a sticky caramel coating.
Nutrition content: Energy in kcal about 531. Fat about 18g, Carbohydrates about 80g, Protein about 11g
Price of Chimney cakes in Budapest: Small chimney cake – 300 HUF. Big chimney cake – 500 HUF
Kurtos Kalacs Baking process
Munching on Kurtos
We watched it, with full anticipation and eager eyes, changing color from light creamy yellow to light brown to a crispy brown. An irresistible flavor soon spread and that increased our hunger pangs. The lady took them out from the oven and with gentle taps removed the chimney cake from the spit. We were then asked what coat we would like to have… ‘chocolate with or without nuts’, or ‘sugar and cinnamon’ or ‘just plain’…more.
The wicked ‘we’ chose four different flavors, our minds scheming to take bites from each other’s chimney cake. Decency held us back from grabbing the rolls from her hand. With a polite ‘thank you’ and payment done we were on the streets merrily biting in to the delicious crispy cakes! Heavenly! I say!
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UUMM that cake must be very rich.
Rajesh… glad my post tempted you so much. 🙂
Francisca…. so you tasted it… 🙂 Thanks for your comment.
Sivinden, E G Wow, The Little Red shop… glad you like this treat, virtual though.
arabesque, Photofache, Ash, glad you found this traditional food item of Hungary interesting.
Rahul, yes it was a delicious experience.
Ralph, I hope this post inspires you to bake.
Joop, Bob, Babli… it tastes good too. 🙂
Carver, Sylvia, I am glad you found the post interesting.
magic eye, J Bar, glad you like it.
Kay, NixBlog, Suzy… glad you liked the pictures and the way I presented them.
Ladyfi, readerwil,… they are indeed tasty.
Viola… these are a specialty of Hungary and they are quite secretive of the ingredients used.
aka Penelope, FotoAnna.. thanks so much for the comments. They are delicious!
I have never baked anything before – cook yes, bake never. I feel that I cannot do it. Yet, perhaps the Hungarian chimney delight I may. If not, the delicious concoction will still be as tasty in picture!
Interesting and yummy!
Must have been a great experience besides culinary delight!
oh that is yummy looking.
the cake looks fluffy and light.
looks yummy! would def. give it a try. ^0^
They look wonderful! Thank you for you nice comment on my blog. Dabney is safe…just enjoying the view from under a couple of picnic benches.
I hope you're having a beautiful week!
: )
Julie M.
Oh, how yummy! I wish I had been with you!
That cake looks delicious:) I've never heard about it, so it was interesting reading.
I had these in Romania earlier in the year, and yup, DELICIOUS!
I am ready for one bite.
Yummy… ;-))
Very interesting post Indrani!
Greetings from Holland,
Anna :-))
Oh my goodness this looks delicious. No matter how much time it took to make them I’m sure they disappeared within minutes!
Such a speciality! And it looks good also! I've never seen these cakes before.. Fun to see! 🙂
But.. how did you make two pictures in one by holding the mouse on the picture? I would like to know.. 🙂
Have a nice day! 🙂
Yummy,yummy…. They look interesting and very tasteful!
Delicious! What a lovely experience.
that looks so yummy. very interesting post and nicely illustrated too. thanks for sharing.
Interesting post illustrated with great photos!
Cheers from Melbourne, Australia!
What a wonderful experience. Makes me hungry just to think about it, and your photos make me salivate.
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel
Interesting.
yummmmm
How fun to watch them being made! They look delicious to me!! What a delightful post for the day, Indrani! Thanks for the smiles to start the day! Have a lovely evening!
Sylvia
That looks divine. Very interesting post and photos.
Unique and interesting. Good to see.
Yum, it looks nice.
Looks good indrani.