Chimney Cake Archives - Budapest Guide

Kürtöskalács (Chimney Cake) Festival

One of the most popular sweets at any festival in Budapest is the Kürtöskalács, also known as the Chimney Cake or the Seklér Cake. But why should this delight only be eaten at other festivals? Now you have the chance to taste it in all sorts of versions at its very own Chimney Cake festival in Budapest.

There have been different festivals for the Kürtöskalács in Budapest for a long time. Different companies have arranged them and have been at all sorts of locations. Then came COVID, and all festivals were canceled for a couple of years. But now things are back to normal, which means that the Chimney Cake festival has returned to Budapest once again.

Chimney Cake Festival 2023 / Kürtöskalács Festival 2023

Dates: October 13-15.
Location: Budapest Zoo

As you can see, the festival is arranged in the zoo. As a result, you need to buy an entrance ticket to the zoo to visit the festival area. That might not be an ideal solution, considering that the entrance fee is 4500 HUF for adults and 3200 HUF for kids. Families coming together can buy discounted tickets, but it is still an expensive entrance fee considering that you need to spend a lot of money buying the Chimney Cakes that you want to taste on the inside later.

What is happening at the festival?

The festival area will have different programs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There are concerts, programs, and quizzes at a stage in the area, and there will be puppet shows combined with all the normal interesting programs available in Budapest zoo (feeding of sharks and more).

What is a Chimney Cake (Seklar Cake)?

The basic Chimney Cake is a sweet dough rolled out as a long sausage. It is then rolled around a wooden cylinder and dipped in sugar. When this is done, it should be placed above coal (grilled) until the sugar has been caramelized. The final step is then to dip it in either vanilla, nuts, cinnamon, cocoa powder, or some other tasty ingredient. This is the basic version of the Chimney Cake.

A new and more modern version follows the basic steps but later adds Nutella, vanilla ice, Snickers, Twix, and all sorts of other tastes and calories to make it look even better and more packed with calories. Which version is the best? That is entirely up to you to find out!

Taste the Chimney Cake in Budapest

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Budapest Guide

Budapest is a city with a lot to see and discover. But, just as important – it is a city in which there is a lot to taste. And one of the best things to taste is the traditional Chimney Cake.

The Chimney Cake, also named Sekler cake by some, is a sweet pastry, originally coming from Transylvania. It has turned so popular, that not only can you find it on Christmas markets in Budapest (and on other festivals), but you can find special stores selling this. And, if you decide to visit Krakow, Bratislava, Vienna or Prague, you can find the Chimney Cake at larger festivities there as well.

The traditional Chimney Cake in Budapest

The picture above is taken from Molnar Kurtoskalacs, a store in the main shopping street of Budapest (Vaci utca) in which you can buy these cakes all days of the week.

The chimney cake is a sweet dough cover with sugar. It is then grilled above charcoal (that is the real version), and in this process, the sugar is caramelized. As this process is finished, it is time to roll the chimney cake in either nut, cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, or some other tasty ingredient.

It is extremely tasty, and a sure hit among kids.

Making the Chimney Cake even sweater

Whatever is popular, will be worked on and improved. In the latter years, the Chimney Cake has gotten some improvements to it, even though we are more fond of the original version.

The improvement is that they have started to add ice cream and/or Nutella to the chimney cake.

chimney cake with ice cream — Chimney cake with vanilla ice cream

On the picture above, you can see what it might be like as the chimney cake is stuffed with vanilla ice cream on the inside. Personally, I would rather just eat the normal version, but one of the great things about life is trying new things. And that is important when you come to Budapest… taste new things!

People are often afraid of buying something that they will not like, but if that should be a problem, just don’t eat it. But, you will only get richer tasting something, because you will have an experience of tasting something that you either liked a lot, or maybe didn’t like – but, you are still an experience richer!

Are you a real Chimney Cake enthusiast? Do not forget about the Chimney Cake festival in Budapest in October.

Would you rather eat some more serious food? You can read more about wine dinners and wine tasting programs in Budapest here.

Thank you for reading this article! We wish you a fantastic stay in Budapest, and should you need help with guided tours, river cruises on the Danube, or some other program, make sure to contact us. More information at https://www.hungarybudapestguide.com/.

Chimney Cake Festival 2018 in Budapest

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Budapest Guide

Are you a fan of sweet pastry? Have you ever tasted a cinnamon roll and loved it? Still haven’t tasted the fantastic Chimney Cake (Kürtöskalacs?) Check out this festival in Budapest!

The Kürtőskalács Fesztivál (Chimney Cake Festival) has turned into an annual tradition in Budapest. In 2018, it will be arranged for the sixth time. It has been held at several locations, but it will be arranged at the same spot in 2018 as in 2017, that is, the Gesztenyes Kert (Chestnut Garden). This is located a bit outside the heart of Budapest, but that is only to its advantage. This is a peaceful area, but it will be full of life during the time of the festival.

Sekler Cake Festival 2018 in Budapest — Time to taste some Sekler Cake – Source

Sekler Cake Festival dates 2018 (Chimney Cake festival)

They have started calling the Kürtőskalács Sekler Cake instead of Chimney Cake, but it isn’t the title, but the taste that matters. In 2018, the festival will be arranged from October 12th till October 14th.

How to get to the Gesztenyes garden?

Tram number 61 to Csörsz street.
Tram number 59 or bus number 105 to Apor Vilmos square.
Bus 110 or 112 to Sirály street.
Bus 212 from Alkotás street.
Bus 139 from the South Railway Station (Metro 2).

These are some of the options. You might have to walk a couple of hundred meters from the stops to the actual festival area, but that shouldn’t cause much trouble. The area is very close to the shopping mall Mom Park.

There is no entrance fee, meaning that everyone can come and go in the festival area whenever they want.

What’s going on in the festival area?

There will be daily competitions taking place, there will be interactive stories told to the children, and there will be quite a lot of concerts. On the Saturday evening at 20:00 Kati Wolf will sing. She is most famous for representing Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest with this song back in 2011 with this song.

Kati Wolf will sing at the Chimney Cake festival in 2018

Does this sound like a cool program to visit? Mark the dates, October 12th, October 13th and October 14th in 2018.

You can read more about other programs and events in Budapest right here.

We hope you will have a fantastic stay in Budapest. If you have any comments or questions related to this event or something else, please write it beneath this text. We would love to hear from you.

Kürtöskalács Festival in Budapest 2014

Posted on September 25, 2014September 25, 2014 by Budapest Guide

The Kürtöskalács Festival (Chimney Cake festival) is coming to Budapest again this year. This has been the second time visitors can enjoy the best and most delicious kürtöskalács at the festival.

The kürtöskalács is one of the most popular pastries of Hungary and Hungarian speaking regions. It used to be sold as a treat at different festivals but nowadays is a part of the normal Hungarian life. It is made from sweet and yeast dough which is rolled in sugar. During the baking the pastry gets lubricated with melted butter and it gives a golden-brown colour to it. While baking the kürtöskalács, the sugar that stuck on it becomes caramel which makes a crispy crust on the pastry. It is a really delicious and popular cake among everyone who has ever tasted. This year the festival has even more to offer the visitors apart from the most tasty kürtöskalàcs.

At the festival you can get to know and enjoy the best kürtöskalàcs and there will be several other programs you can choose from. This year’s festival is organized by the Vitèz Kürtös Team. There will be multiple programs such as live concerts and children activities as well. At the festival you will even have the chance to learn to bake your own kürtöskalács. The II. Kürtöskalàcs Fesztivàl will take place in Budapest the capital city of Hungary at Vàrosliget. The festival will be held from 10th October until 12th October 2014.

If you want to know more about other festivals, programs and events in Budapest, check the events calendar.

11 nice December activities in Budapest

Posted on December 1, 2011September 21, 2023 by Budapest Guide

December can be a very cold month in Budapest and in Hungary, but there are plenty of good and nice programs in this period as well. Check out our list beneath for pieces of advice and recommendations.

– Visit the popular Christmas markets in Budapest
– Go ice skating in the City Park
– Enjoy the 5 course Hungarian winedinner in the centre of Budapest
– Visit Szentendre for winetasting, shopping, Christmas market and more fun
– Do a daytrip to the Christmas markets in Vienna
– Enjoy a thai massage in Lian Thai Massage
– Visit the Alexandra BookCafe in Andrassy Út
– Check out a performance in the Hungarian State Opera
– Eat a newly baked Chimney cake (kürtöskalács). Eat it while drinking some hot wine.
– Learn how to make Hungarian food at a nice coooking school
– Taste Hungarian beer at our brewery tour

We wish everyone a wonderful December, a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!