Kürtőskalács

Kürtőskalács

Kürtőskalács or kürtős kalács is a Hungarian^[1] pastry also known as chimney cake, stove cake, or Hungarian wedding cake. It is baked on a tapered cylindrical spit over an open fire. Originally from Transylvania,^[2] it is famous as Hungary's oldest pastry^{[citation needed]}. Kürtőskalács is sold in bakeries and pastry shops, and even street vendors are selling them on street corners, carnivals, and fairs.

Kürtőskalács consists of a thin yeast pastry ribbon wound around a wooden cylinder, heavily sprinkled with sugar, thus becoming a helix-shaped pastry which may taper very slightly towards the end.

The pastry is baked on a hand-turned, tapered, wooden spit, rolled slowly on the wooden cylinder above an open fire. The dough is yeast-raised, flavored with sweet spices, the most common being cinnamon, topped with walnuts or almonds, and sugar. The sugar is caramelized on the kürtöskalács surface, creating a sweet, crisp crust.

Kürtőskalács originates from Transylvania, a historical region in present-day Romania with a sizable Hungarian population. The name derives from the Hungarian word kürtő that refers to chimney.

The German Baumkuchen may be directly related to the kürtőskalács, from which it is said to derive via the Hungarian wedding cake.^{[citation needed]}

See also

Kürtőskalács baking on a spit over charcoal fire

A mobile Kürtőskalács shop in Hungary

• Trdelnik
• Šakotis
• Sękacz
• Spettekaka
• National symbols of Hungary

External links

• Kürtőskalács on a Hungarian food blog
• Béla Kovács, a seller of ovens and supplies for chimney cake bakers
• A photo of a chimney cake for sale by a street vendor in New York City
• About baumkuchen, including a legend of how the recipe for baumkuchen was brought to Germany from Hungary
• Recipe for Chimney Cake
• Making Kurtoskalacs at YouTube
• Chimney Cake Cambodia
• Kurtos-kalacs: A supplier of ovens, accessories, recipes & training

References

1. ^ Louis Craig Cornish, Transylvania in 1922: report of the commission sent by the American and British Unitarian churches to Transylvania in 1922, Eric Cherry, 1923, p. 45 [1]
2. ^ George Lang, The cuisine of Hungary, Atheneum, 1971, p. 112 [2]