More Chimney Cakes

The post about the Transilvania Grill reminded me of my recent stop at the chimney cake truck, Transylvanian Twist, which in turn reminded me of the long-departed Chimney Cake Island (my only basis for comparison). For the newbies, it's a strip of dough wound around a cylinder and then cooked over a flame. When it's pulled off the cylinder it makes a chimney-shaped hollow tube of pastry which gets coated with cinnamon or nuts or coconut. I caught it in front of Play & Spin on Howard and Caldwell, where they say they'll return early Sunday afternoons. I had my fingers crossed but they were still apparently working out the system and service was slow. The cake itself was just okay. It lacked the citrus notes that I remember from Chimney Cake Island, which added a nice balance to the sweetness.

https://chimneycakesusa.com/

My brief online search led me to another spot (in LA) which is doing a more modern take on the cake.

https://www.thehouseofchimneycakes.com/about-us

spinynorman99 wrote:it's a strip of dough wound around a cylinder and then cooked over a flame. When it's pulled off the cylinder it makes a chimney-shaped hollow tube of pastry

Sounds a lot like baumkuchen, which I've seen at several bakeries in Chicago, including Lutz as well as Sweet World Pastry on North Milwaukee Ave.

nsxtasy wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:it's a strip of dough wound around a cylinder and then cooked over a flame. When it's pulled off the cylinder it makes a chimney-shaped hollow tube of pastry

Sounds a lot like baumkuchen, which I've seen at several bakeries in Chicago, including Lutz.

Mmmm, Baumkuchen. Love those especially with German chocolate in Bavaria. In my experience they're more like crepe cakes, layered and spongy and dense. The chimney cakes are yeasted and come out more fluffy/ crispy if done right, not quite churroesque with less egg / structure but in that direction.

nsxtasy wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:it's a strip of dough wound around a cylinder and then cooked over a flame. When it's pulled off the cylinder it makes a chimney-shaped hollow tube of pastry

Sounds a lot like baumkuchen, which I've seen at several bakeries in Chicago, including Lutz.

Similar format/different animal.

Similar to Lithuanian Tree Cake?

Panther in the Den wrote:Similar to Lithuanian Tree Cake?

I don't know - I've never had one of those - but you can find them on the South Side near Midway Airport, here.

There appears to be a genre of mid-to-Eastern European"spit cakes" (not appetizingly named) with the two apparent distinctions being batter-based or dough-based:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spit_cake

spinynorman99 wrote:There appears to be a genre of mid-to-Eastern European"spit cakes" (not appetizingly named) with the two apparent distinctions being batter-based or dough-based:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spit_cake

Awesome write-up - thanks for the link!