Easy Chimney Cake Recipe

Hungarian Chimney Cake is one of my favorite desserts nearing the holidays. I get them every year from the Vancouver Christmas Market, and now I've learned how to make them at home! It's super easy and a fun activity for the family.

If you're looking for another dessert, try my Homemade Timbits next!

🇭🇺 About This Recipe

Chimney cakes (Kürtőskalácsok) are a traditional Hungarian dessert! They're made by coiling a yeasted dough around a cylinder, coating it with cinnamon sugar, and baking it.

I first had these at the Vancouver Christmas Market, and I was instantly hooked! They're soft and fluffy on the inside and ever-so-crispy on the outside. They make the perfect snack as you're meandering through the market.

The reason they're called" chimney cakes" is because when they're fresh out of the oven, the steam rising from them makes them look like a hot chimney!

🏠 How to Make It At Home

Basically, you wrap the dough around a rolling pin and then bake it on top of a roasting pan. The rolling pin needs to balance on the sides of the roasting pan so that it doesn't touch the bottom.

🧂 Ingredients

• Dough: The dough is made with all-purpose flour, sugar, instant yeast, butter, milk, egg, and salt. I prefer instant yeast because you can mix it directly with the dry ingredients. If you have active yeast, you'll need to bloom it in warm milk and sugar first.
• Cinnamon sugar topping: It's just ground cinnamon and sugar. You'll also need some butter for brushing on the dough so the cinnamon sugar sticks. If you have a spice grinder, I highly recommend grinding fresh cinnamon sticks, as the flavor will be much more aromatic.

🔪 Instructions

STEP 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk flour, sugar, yeast, and kosher salt. Add butter, milk, and eggs, and gently mix it with a spoon until it forms a dough. It'll be very sticky at this point but it'll get smoother after we knead it.

STEP 2: Knead the dough with the hook attachment for 4-5 minutes on medium speed. If you're kneading by hand, dust your work surface with flour and knead for at least 7-10 minutes until it is no longer sticky.

STEP 3: Transfer the dough to the bowl, cover with a towel, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. If your house is very cold, this could take 30-60 minutes longer.

In the meantime, cover a wooden rolling pin with tin foil. Make sure you cover every part of it, including the handles. Make the cinnamon sugar by whisking ¼ cup granulated sugar and 1 ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

STEP 4: Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.

STEP 5: Roll each piece into a long rope, 2 ½ feet long and about ½ inch wide.

STEP 7: Coil the dough around the rolling pin, leaving some space between each strip (we will flatten them in the next step to fill the space). Gently press the ends of one rope to another to connect them.

STEP 8: Gently roll the rolling pin on the work surface to flatten the strips of dough together and fill the empty space. Place the rolling pin on a 9x13-inch baking pan, balancing the handles on the short sides of the pan.

STEP 9: Brush with butter or oil. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough while rotating the rolling pin until evenly coated.

STEP 10: Bake for 10 minutes in a 375°F oven, then rotate the chimney cake and bake for another 10 minutes until both sides are golden brown.

You can store these at room temperature for up to one day or refrigerate them for up to five days, but I'm sure they'll be gone long before that 😉.

📋 Recipe