Kürtőskalács

Kürtőskalács

A kürtőskalács decorated with the flags of Székely and Hungary
Place of origin	Covasna and Harghita counties, Burzenland, Romania
Main ingredients	flour, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, yeast, salt

Kürtőskalács (Hungarian pronunciation: [kyrtøːʃkɒlaːtʃ], sometimes transliterated kurtosh kalach) is a spit cake specific to Hungarian-speaking regions in Romania, more predominantly the Székely land. Earlier a festive treat, now it is part of everyday consumption.

Kürtőskalács is made from sweet, yeast dough (raised dough), of which a strip is spun and then wrapped around a truncated cone–shaped baking spit, and rolled in granulated sugar. It is roasted over charcoal while basted with melted butter, until its surface cooks to a golden-brown color. During the baking process the sugar stuck on the kürtőskalács caramelises and forms a shiny, crispy crust. The surface of the cake can then be topped with additional ingredients such as ground walnut or powdered cinnamon.

The etymology of the name refers to a stovepipe, since the fresh, steaming cake in the shape of a truncated cone resembles a hot chimney.

This opinion is shared by Attila T. Szabó (), scholar and philologist from Kolozsvár, Cluj: "...When cake is taken off from the spit in one piece, it gets the shape of a 25–30-centimetre [9.8–11.8-inch] long vent or tube. Since cake preserves shape when served for both family and guests, consumers are faced with this typical, vent-like image of cake tearing off in strips. It is obvious that "etymology must be closely related to the vent shape of cake".

Throughout the centuries, miscellaneous alternate names and spellings of "kürtőskalács" have been used. More references were mentioned even in the 19th century (e.g. dorongfánk/spit-donut or botratekercs/stick roll-up or botfánk/stick-donut). The name "kürtőskalács" has a Transylvanian origin and became popular only by the middle of the 20th century. Until the end of the century it had different spellings (e.g. spelt with ‘ö’ as in ‘kürtös kalács’ or in two words, as in ‘kürtős kalács’. As far as we know the present name, "kürtőskalács", first appeared in a cookbook, published by the book department of 'Brassói Lapok’ (Transylvanian gazette of the time) in 1926.