Trdelník
Trdelník is associated today with Prague's old town, though it comes from the Slovak-Hungarian borderlands and is a cousin of the Hungarian kürtőskalács. It is a strip of yeast dough wound around a spit, baked and rolled in sugar and nuts. Over a fire the spit turns above embers; at home, cones made of aluminium foil and an ordinary oven do the job. Once baked, the dough slides off, leaving a hollow “chimney”. It is best warm, within half an hour of baking.
Your own work in that: 45 min.
- Dough 20 min
- Rising 70 min
- Winding 25 min
- Baking 50 min
- Cooling 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneStart the yeast
Crumble the yeast into the lukewarm milk with a spoonful of sugar and one of flour, stir and leave 10 minutes.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 180 ml lukewarm milk · 20 g fresh yeast · 50 g sugar · 60 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
Knead the dough
Add the rest of the flour and sugar, the egg, salt, lemon zest and melted butter. Knead 10 minutes until smooth and springy.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 180 ml lukewarm milk · 20 g fresh yeast · 50 g sugar · 60 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
Leave to rise
Cover and leave somewhere warm for 70 minutes, until doubled.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 180 ml lukewarm milk · 20 g fresh yeast · 50 g sugar · 60 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
Prepare the cones
Shape 6 cones from several layers of aluminium foil (about 15 cm long, 5–6 cm across), or use proper trdelník rollers. Brush them generously with melted butter.
Ingredients: 50 g butter for brushing · 100 g sugar · 80 g walnuts, finely chopped · 1 tsp cinnamon
Cut the dough
Divide the dough into 6 pieces of about 125 g. Roll each into a strip 3 cm wide, 6 mm thick and about 70 cm long — enough to wrap a cone four or five times.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 180 ml lukewarm milk · 20 g fresh yeast · 50 g sugar · 60 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
One 125 g strip per cone.Wind onto the cones
Wind a strip in a spiral around each cone, overlapping the edges slightly and leaving 2 cm free at each end. Press with your palm and brush with butter. Heat the oven to 200°C — the wound cones will rest a quarter of an hour meanwhile and rise a little.
Ingredients: 50 g butter for brushing · 100 g sugar · 80 g walnuts, finely chopped · 1 tsp cinnamon
The coils should touch but not pile up.Bake
Set the cones so the dough does not touch the tray (rest the ends on the tin's edges or on two loaf tins) and bake at 200°C for 20–25 minutes, turning once halfway, until golden. Only three or four cones fit at a time, so bake in two batches — about 50 minutes in all.
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour · 180 ml lukewarm milk · 20 g fresh yeast · 50 g sugar · 60 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
Coat in sugar
Mix the sugar with the nuts and cinnamon on a flat plate. Brush the hot rolls with butter, roll them in the sugar and only then slide them off the cones. Some of the coating stays on the plate — that is normal. Cool 10 minutes and eat warm.
Ingredients: 50 g butter for brushing · 100 g sugar · 80 g walnuts, finely chopped · 1 tsp cinnamon
Coat them hot so the sugar sticks.
Before you start
Not an old Prague speciality
Trdelník is sold in Prague as an “old Bohemian speciality”, but it comes from the Slovak-Hungarian borderlands and only spread across Prague's streets in the 21st century. That does not make it any less good.
Without cones
If you would rather not shape cones, roll the strips into spirals and bake them in muffin tins. You lose the shape but keep the flavour and texture.
Storage
Trdelník goes stale fast and loses its crispness within hours. Eat it on baking day, or refresh it 4 minutes at 180°C.
