What is Trdelnik?

Trdelnik, or as it is also known, trozkol or trdlo is the Czech and Slovakian name given to a yeast dough-based product.

A strip of dough is wrapped around a cooking roll or stick, coated in sugar and then baked above burning charcoal, a gas flame or inside a hot electrical grill or oven.

What is Skalicky Trdelnik?
Skalicky Trdelnik has a European Union PGI protected status. The PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) mark designates a product originating in a specific place, region or country whose given quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and at least one of the production steps of which takes place in the defined geographical area. The producer can only label the baked product as Skalicky Trdelnik if the published criteria has been met, which is written in the European Union document. ES št. SK/PGI/005/0489/09.08.2005

Where did Trdelnik come from?
Exactly where the Trdelnik originated is clouded with myth and legend. Some people say that a Hungarian general brought the idea to Moravia, in the Czech Republic, via Slovakia, in the 18th century. The word trdelník is of Czech-Slovak origin; the root of this word, trdlo, is the name of the wooden cooking roll which the dough is wrapped around before baking. However, a lot of locals are opposed to Trdelnik and how it has taken over the old town of Prague as they say that it has no real historical roots in the Czech Republic.

Where can I buy Trdelnik?
You can buy freshly baked Trdelnik in most of the tourist areas in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Trdelnik is now one the most popular street foods available in Prague. The bakery called Good Food, located on Karlova 180/8 was the pioneer in the city as they were the first producer to offer the Chimney cone, which is a cone shaped Trdelnik, filled with ice cream. When the product was first launched by Good Food bakery, a photo of the product was shared millions of times by social media users but was referred to as a donut cone. As the popularity of the product grew, mainly because the product is very instagramable, more Trdelnik vendors set up businesses on the streets of Prague.

How is Trdelnik made?
A piece of risen dough is rolled into a strip or cut into a strip and is wrapped around a cylindrical cooking roll which is usually made of wood or stainless steel. The outside of the dough is coated in sugar and the cooking roll is placed inside a hot oven or above burning charcoal, where it rotates and bakes. At the end of the baking process, the sugar will melt into a liquid form, which the applied topping will stick too.

What is the difference between Trdelnik and Kurtoskalacs?
When comparing the Trdelnik and Kurtoskalacs recipe, there is no difference. Size wise, the Trdelnik is usually smaller than the Kurtoskalacs. In Prague, you often see several smaller size Trdelkik baking on one long cooking roll, often on solid stainless-steel rolls which must be handled by a person with gloves on. Whereas in Budapest, its more common to see larger individual Kurtoskalacs being baked on one cooking roll.

Dober Kürtős – The Chimney cake, Chimney cones, Trdelnik, & Baumstriezel experts