Homemade Hungarian Chimney Cakes!! Chimney cakes, also known as Kürtőskalács, are a delicious and unique treat from Hungary, a staple sweet bread at outdoor festivals, carnivals, and street vendors.
Hungarian Chimney Cake (Kürtőskalács)
Today I am sharing a traditional Hungarian-style sweet bread recipe called ‘Chimney Cakes’ or ‘Kürtőskalács’. Its cylindrical hollow shape gives it the name ‘chimney’. They are commonly coated with cinnamon and sugar and have a delicious crust on the outside and a cake-like dough on the inside.
This recipe is easy to make and adapted for home baking. You’ll find, here, an easy-to-follow recipe with step-by-step instructions, helpful info, and tips. I hope you’ll try and enjoy it with your loved ones!! It will be your new favorite.
More Hungarian Recipes to try!!
Gundel Pancakes (Hungarian Gundel Palacsinta)
What is chimney cake?
Chimney Cakes are sweet breads that originated in Hungary and date back to medieval times. They are traditionally called Kürtöskalács in Hungarian and also known as spit donuts, stick cakes, or stick donuts and a staple at outdoor festivals, carnivals, and street vendors.
Why is it called “chimney cake”?
Chimney Cakes are cylinder-shaped with a hollow center, resembling a hot chimney when it comes fresh from the oven. So, its name refers to a chimney (stovepipe) or kürtő.
How Do You Make Chimney Cakes?
Traditional chimney cakes are baked over hot coals (open fire) using wooden rotating spits. This gives them a crispy crunchy crust with a light fluffy dough inside.
Chimney cakes are made from sweet yeast dough. The dough is then shaped into long strips and wrapped around a wooden spit to create a cylinder-like bread.
The spiral strips of dough are then coated with egg yolk (or melted butter) before baking and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar so that the sugar melts and forms a glaze (caramel) on top.
You can easily bake it at home in the oven using wooden rolling pins or empty beer cans coating them with aluminum foil and rolling the dough over it.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make the Chimney Cakes
- Flour – Plain or all-purpose flour, not bread or self-rising flour
- Yeast – The rising agent in this dough. I used instant dry yeast but you can also use other types of yeast
- Sugar – A little sugar is used in the dough as sweet toppings will be added on the top
- Milk – Full-fat milk makes the dough tender
- Butter – Unsalted butter is used to enrich the dough
- Eggs – Large eggs at room temperature
- Salt – Used to balance out the flavors
- Vanilla (optional) – Adds a nice flavor to the dough
Ideas for toppings,
dipping sauces, and fillings
You can be as playful as you want with the toppings and adapt them to your taste.
The flavor can vary depending on the toppings sprinkled over the dough. Traditionally, a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, and ground walnuts is used but there are now many other options, such as coconut, almond, cocoa, sprinkles, and chocolate, to name a few.
You can also dip the pieces of bread in your favorite sauce. Hot fudge, warm salted caramel sauce, butterscotch, and strawberry sauce are all delicious options.
Chimney cakes are hollow; you can fill them with a filling of your choice for a delicious dessert such as whipped cream or ice cream. Once filled, drizzle with sauce and then top with sprinkles and chopped nuts.
Variations
You can also make Chimney cakes shaped like chimney cones and fill them with ice cream, Nutella, chocolate, or pastry cream.
Special Equipment & Tools
You’ll need wooden rolling pins, aluminum foil, parchment paper, and a baking pan to recreate this cooking process in a standard oven.
I used rolling pins around 25 cm in length and 5 cm in diameter. However, you can use different sizes as you like.
I used wood rolling pins with thinner handles (Tapered rolling pins) as it makes it easier to place them on a tray.
Ensure the rolling pins are entirely wooden, and have no plastic parts or anything that can melt in the oven.
First, wrap all wooden pins with aluminum foil to prevent the dough from burning, and then with parchment paper. This makes it easier to remove the cakes after baking.
You can also use empty beer cans after covering them with aluminum foil instead of rolling pins. Use tall beer cans and wash them well before use. (I have not personally tried them.)
Serving Suggestions
Chimney Cakes are best served hot or within a few hours of baking. For plain chimney cakes, uncoil the bread strips by hand as you go along and eat smaller chunks at a time. This way, you can enjoy the contrast between the crispy crust and the chewy inside with less mess. You can also eat them with dips like chocolate sauce if you like.
Useful Tips
- There are many different types of cups across the globe, so I prefer using a kitchen scale in grams for more accuracy and highly recommend using a scale.
- When you handle the dough, even if it is sticky, do not use more flour, instead, oil your hands with some cooking oil.
- The chimney cake dough can also be brushed with egg yolk instead of melted butter.
Hungarian Chimney Cake
(Step-by-Step Recipe)
Prep time 20 min
Cook Time 20 min
Rest Time 60 min
Total Time 100 min
Servings 2 to 4 person
Ingredients
- 240 g plain white flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 30 g sugar
- 1 tsp instant dry yeast
- 1 egg
- 80 ml milk, lukewarm
- 45 g melted butter, slightly cooled
- 2 tbsp melted butter for brushing
- 100 g sugar for topping
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon for topping
Instructions
You can make 2 large or 4 small ones so use small or large rolling pins as desired. Ensure to use wood with no plastic or meltable pieces. For more details, please see the section ‘Equipment & Tools’ in the blog post.
Cover rolling pins fully with aluminum foil and then with parchment paper as shown in the picture below. Using parchment paper is optional but highly recommended.
Gather the ingredients; plain flour, milk, egg, sugar, instant yeast, and melted butter.
I usually use my bread machine (Zojirushi) to make the dough. You can do it in a stand mixer with a dough hook or by hand. If you make the dough by hand, please read how to make Apple Buns (Japanese Ringo Pan) for more details.
If you use a home bakery, add all the ingredients. Set the bread machine to the “dough only” setting.
The machine will combine the ingredients, knead the dough, and give it its first rise.
If making the dough by hand, knead for 7-10 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky and springs back when poked with the finger.
Grease a large bowl with cooking oil, then place the kneaded dough into it. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Let proof in a warm place for about 1 hr or until double in size.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prep the rolling pins by brushing them with melted butter.
Once the dough has proved, divide it into 2 or 4 equal parts. Work with one piece at a time. Keep the remaining dough covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying.
Roll the dough roughly into a rectangular shape. Use a pizza cutter to cut it into thin strips.
Gently wrap the strip of dough around the prepared rolling pin (s) ensuring each strip overlaps the previous one slightly. Gently press the dough with your fingers to ensure the strips stick together. Repeat the process for the remaining chimney cakes.
Use a pastry brush to coat each chimney cake with melted butter.
First, sprinkle some sugar (or the topping mixture) on the flat surface. Roll the surface of the dough gently through the topping mixture, pressing gently to help the toppings stick. This step also helps to level the dough. You can sprinkle more sugar over the chimney cake as you like. Ensure all sides are covered evenly.
If using cinnamon sugar, mix them in a bowl. Then sprinkle the mix over the chimney cakes. You can also blend cinnamon, sugar, and ground walnuts.
Place the rolling pins with the dough on top of a deeper tray. The handles should rest on the edges of the tray, so the chimney cakes do not touch the bottom of the tray. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the rolling pins on the other side. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until they brown slightly around the edges.
Serve immediately plain or with dipping sauce while still warm.
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Homemade Hungarian Chimney Cakes (Kürtőskalács)
Ingredients
- 240 g plain white flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 30 g sugar
- 1 tsp instant dry yeast
- 1 egg
- 80 ml milk lukewarm
- 45 g melted butter slightly cooled
- 2 tbsp melted butter for brushing
- 100 g sugar for topping
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon for topping
Instructions
- You can make 2 large cakes or 4 small cakes so use small or large rolling pins as desired. Ensure to use wood with no plastic or meltable pieces. For more details, please see the section ‘Equipment & Tools’ in the blog post.
- Cover rolling pins fully with aluminum foil and then with parchment paper as shown in the picture below. Using parchment paper is optional.
- I used my bread machine to make the dough. You can do it in a stand mixer with a dough hook or knead by hand.
- If kneading by hand, lightly flour the work surface, then tip the dough onto it. Knead for 7-10 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky and springs back when poked with the finger. For more details about making the dough by hand, please read this post Apple Buns (Japanese Ringo Pan)
- Grease a large bowl with cooking oil, then place the kneaded dough into it. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Let proof in a warm place for about 1 hr or until double in size.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prep the rolling pins by brushing them with melted butter.
- Once the dough has proved, divide it into 2 or 4 equal parts. Work with one piece at a time. Keep the remaining dough covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying.
- Roll the dough roughly into a rectangular shape. Use a pizza cutter to cut it into thin strips.
- Gently wrap the strip of dough around the prepared rolling pin (s) ensuring each strip overlaps the previous one slightly. Gently press the dough with your fingers to ensure the strips stick together. Repeat the process for the remaining chimney cakes.
- Use a pastry brush to coat each chimney cake with melted butter.
- Sprinkle some sugar (or the topping mixture) on the flat surface. Roll the surface of the dough gently through the topping mixture, pressing gently to help the toppings stick. This step also helps to level the dough. You can sprinkle more sugar over the chimney cake as you like. Ensure all sides are covered evenly.
- If using cinnamon sugar, mix them in a bowl. Then sprinkle the mix over the chimney cakes. You can also blend cinnamon, sugar, and ground walnuts.
- Place the rolling pins with chimney cakes on top of a deeper tray. The handles should rest on the edges of the tray, so the chimney cakes do not touch the bottom of the tray. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the rolling pins on the other side. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until they brown slightly around the edges.
- Serve immediately plain or with a dipping sauce while still warm.
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