History

Trdelnik traces back to Transylvania, brought to the Slovak town of Skalica by retired Hungarian general Jozsef Gvadanyi in the 1780s. It only arrived in Prague in the early 2000s, when tourist vendors marketed it as a traditional Czech pastry. Locals avoid it; the pastry exists almost entirely for tourist photos around the Old Town. Now the trdelnik-ice-cream-cone is its dominant form, with the chimney-shaped sweet bread filled with soft serve, Nutella or whipped cream and eaten by tourists on the Charles Bridge. There is no Czech home or pub version; the dish is street-only and tourist-only.

Common allergens: Gluten, Eggs, Nuts

Make it at home

Yield 8Hands-on 45 minTotal 2 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500g strong bread flour
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 10g instant yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 large egg plus 2 yolks
  • 250ml warm milk
  • 80g unsalted butter, melted
  • For coating: 200g caster sugar, 100g walnuts finely chopped, 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 60g melted butter for brushing
  • 8 wooden rolling pins
  • about 4cm diameter and 25cm long
  • soaked in water 1 hour then lightly oiled (or use clean foil-wrapped baking-paper tubes)

Method

  1. Mix the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a stand mixer; add the egg, yolks, warm milk and melted butter; knead with the dough hook 8 minutes until smooth.
  2. Cover, prove 90 minutes until doubled.
  3. Divide the dough into 8 equal balls. Roll each on a lightly floured bench into a long thin rope, about 80cm long and 1.5cm thick.
  4. Wrap each rope tightly around an oiled wooden roller in a spiral, pressing the edges of adjacent coils together so they fuse into a continuous cylinder.
  5. Brush each wrapped trdelnik with melted butter, then roll firmly in caster sugar to coat the outside.
  6. Set up a charcoal grill (or a 220 degrees Celsius oven on a wire rack for the home version).
  7. Hold the wooden rollers horizontally over the embers, turning constantly for 8 to 10 minutes until the surface caramelises to deep gold and the sugar bubbles.
  8. In the last minute, brush with more melted butter and roll quickly in the walnut-cinnamon-sugar mix.
  9. Slide the trdelnik off the wooden rollers (twist gently to release) while still warm. Eat immediately, the chimney shape ideal for stuffing with whipped cream or ice cream.

Tip from the editors. A rotating gas-powered trdelnik machine is the proper tool; for home cooks, wrap heavy-duty foil around an inverted cake tin or oven-safe pin and rotate manually under a broiler. The sugar coating must caramelise visibly before adding the walnut layer.

Where to eat trdelnik

Trdelnik in Bratislava

Chimney Friends ★ 4.3

Street food€stare-mestoDaily 10:00-22:00

Chimney Friends on Zamocnicka 2 near Michael's Gate hand-rolls and bakes the cone-shaped Slovak trdelnik over charcoal, rolled in sugar and cinnamon to order.

Try: Trdelnik chimney cake, build-your-own

Tip: Pick the filling at the counter; vanilla, coconut, cinnamon, cocoa and almond rotate; closed irregularly in winter.

Zamocnicka 389/2, 811 01 Bratislava

Bratislava Chimney Cake ★ 4.0

Street food€stare-mestoDaily 11:00-22:00

Bratislava Chimney Cake on Sturova hand-rolls trdelnik over charcoal with sugar and cinnamon, plus filled versions with nutella, ice cream and seasonal cream.

Try: Trdelnik with ice cream and nutella fillings

Tip: Lines form on Saturday afternoons; eat the chimney warm walking back toward the river.

Sturova 12, 811 02 Bratislava

Konditorei Kormuth ★ 4.3

Viennese€€stare-mestoWed-Sun 10:00-20:00

Konditorei Kormuth on Sedlarska 363 hides behind a plain shopfront, the painted-ceiling salons run like a museum with Viennese-style cake and hot chocolate.

Why locals love it: Painted Renaissance ceilings and antique furniture turn pastry into a museum visit, hidden on Sedlarska 363.

Tip: There is a small entrance fee for non-customers; ordering coffee and cake gives you the full painted-ceiling seat.

Sedlarska 363, 811 01 Bratislava

Trdelnik in Prague

Old Town Square sausage grills ★ 3.6

Street food€stare-mestoDaily 10:00-22:00

The grill stands on Old Town Square sell Czech klobasa sausages with mustard and a slice of dark rye, the working version of Prague street food.

Try: Klobasa grilled sausage

Tip: Pay in advance, get the smoked klobasa rather than the boiled.

Staromestske namesti, 110 00 Praha 1

More cities are in research. Want trdelnik covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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