Nomadic Texan

As we rambled through the Christmas Market on a tour of Budapest with Viking River Cruises, we smelled delicious aromas and one of the items was Chimney Cakes, a kind of twisted Cinnamon Roll or curled donut, with various flavors added. The Hungarian name is Kurtoskalacs. They are made from a sweet, yeast dough of which a strip is spun around a truncated coned-shaped baking spit.

The dough is rolled in sugar and roasted over a charcoal fire as illustrated in the photo. They are basted with melted butter while the spit is turned and cooked until the cakes turn a golden brown. During the cooking or roasting process the sugar turns to caramel and forms a shiny crust. The glaze is then topped with additional toppings like ground walnuts and cinnamon.

Chimney Cakes Budapest

The origin of the name Chimney Cake refers to a stovepipe, since the fresh, steaming cake in the shape of a truncated cone, resembles a hot chimney. The first recorded mention was in about 1450 and is found in a manuscript by Heidelberg. It was described as a strip wound in a helix shape around a baking spit and brushed with egg yolk before baking. In the 16th century there were three varieties of this pastry with minimal variances in components and shape.

The Hungarian and Czech pastry were approximately the same and were described in the original cake above. The second type is a pastry made from batter belonging to the Lithuanian, Polish, French German, Austrian and Swedish populations.The third and final style was a continuous dough strip placed on a spit. In 1876 Aunt Rezi’s Cookbook was the first recipe that applies sprinkling sugar on kürtőskalács before baking to achieve a caramelized sugar glaze.

The present day baked item emerged in the first half of the 20th century. This included the use of ground, chopped or candied walnuts applied as an additional topping. As far as we know Pal Kovi’s cookbook Erdélyi lakoma (Transylvanian Feast), came out in 1980 and appears to be the first mention of applying this type of topping. At the end of the century a far reaching range of flavoring, cinnamon, coconut, cocoa, vanilla, etc. were toppings applied in addition to the nuts. The cakes have remained fairly stable since this. I can tell you, it is critical you buy one if given the chance. They are delicious and worth every penny!

***Portions of our cruise were sponsored by Viking River Cruises. All opinions, as always, are those of my own.

One of my passions in life is very unhealthy, completely degenerate in nature, filled to the brim with sugar, butter fat and other high caloric ingredients, but I can’t help myself. I am addicted to it. I love sampling the many flavors and I love the various methods of serving it. At home in the US, I cannot purchase it without gobbling down approximately what is considered three or four servings (at least).

I usually make do and hold my urge to feast on the entire package and devour it in one sitting. I am so unlucky, because in Texas we have what is arguably the best in the world for sale in every grocery, convenience, drug store, mass merchandisers and warehouse stand alone membership venues like Costco and Sam’s Club. It is frankly a losing battle and if one does not have a strong disposition you will suffer the consequences. That is simply the enormous expansion of your waistline or what becomes a middle tire effect.

Mixx Heladeria with 80 Flavors with Jim and Connie Joliff

Obviously by now you have deduced I am speaking of ice cream. It is so hard to shop at my local HEB and pick and choose from all the wonderful fruits and vegetables offered and try to stroll by the Blue Bell ice cream section, without grabbing two or three half gallons. Yes I said half gallons. In the old days when all three sons were living at home and playing athletics, it was nothing to go through five or six half gallons a week.

Growing young men need their calories and proteins because of which many tend to invest in performance supplements for sale along with various diets. Furthermore, most of the fat tends to burn off in the Texas heat, along with a hundred degrees plus at their particular sport’s practices. Of course Mom and Dad needed excessive butterfat to enable us to do all that screaming for our sons prowess or at the officials, which usually dominated the yelling. Somehow our referees, umpires, etc were always below standard, or at least that was the case when we were losing!

Mixx Flavor Creations

My weight would fluctuate enormously with the advent of late spring and the high temperatures. How else would one cool down? Thank God I realized by the end of summer that I had to cease my ingestion of massive quantities of ice cream and behave normally again as the cold seasons arrived, or else I would have looked like a Goodyear blimp.

As I aged each year it became harder and harder to shed the excess weight, punctuated with a little syrup and more than likely whipped cream. Kim gravitated toward flavors like Butter Pecan, Vanilla and and anything with Carmel flavor. I was infatuated with Banana Pudding, all things Chocolate and many of the seasonal short term offerings.

Mixx Flavor Options

Over the years we cut back and started only eating ice cream on holidays and other celebrations. It was not easy to let go of my midnight cravings. I started measuring my ice cream scoops so that I could keep a count on how much I was having on a weekly basis. I pined away my fifties knowing I could not continue this charade. Then it happened. I visited Ecuador. A country full of organic fruits, vegetables and untainted food supplies like we have in the US, with all the GMO’s and preservatives.

I quickly noticed that there was a Heladeria on almost every block. Most were the run of the mill shops and served a gelato style ice cream with basic flavors and all serve a soft style, as rule. We talked with a few local Ex-Pats and they recommended Mixx Heladeria run by a Canadian genius.

Mixx Choice of Serving Methods

This place has all types of flavors, including Mojito, Red Bull, Amaretto, and tons of fruit and tasty creations. The sign on the front says 80 Sabores. I am guessing that is correct. Once you walk in, it takes a while to decide which flavors you want to try. There are so many that are appealing. You also then get to decide what vessel you want the ice cream served in, a waffle cone, a waffle dish, or a normal cone.

Then, you get to decide if you want it dipped in chocolate! My word it is tasty. I have attached several photos for your pleasure and I am sure in a few days when I am back to Cuenca, I will head to Mixx and start testing the various new flavors. Somehow with all the walking in Cuenca I manage to eat ice cream and lose weight at the same time. Now that is my kind of experience!

Mixx Flavor Creations