The 'first and finest' Hungarian chimney cake maker in Edinburgh opens at bustling market
There’s a new sweet treat available at this destination
It seems apt that you can now find chimney cakes in Auld Reekie.
They’re available at Tekerch, which is calling itself Scotland’s ‘first and finest’ traditional Hungarian chimney cake maker, and has just moved into a bright orange trailer at Granton food market The Pitt, where you’ll find other vendors including Lebanese street food veterans Lazeez, Nepalese vendors Choola, and buttermilk chicken purveyors The Buffalo Truck.
If you’re no au fait, these delights are cylindrical, crispy-textured and paw-warming sweet dough creations that are served on the streets of Hungary.
In other words, the perfect pudding once you’ve tried one of this Edinburgh market’s many savoury stalls.
We asked the owners of Tekerch to tell us more about their unique business.
What are your names and backgrounds?
We both come from hospitality backgrounds. I’m Kincső Kovács and have a diploma in hospitality management, and did team leading in restaurants, and Szabolcs (Szabi) Panczer has a diploma in culinary skills. We’ve both worked across a range of venues. Szabi had roles from kitchen porter to head chef and kitchen manager, which gave us a strong foundation before starting Tekerch. We’d been thinking for a really long time that we needed to start our own business, and it was handy that one of my family’s friends is a chimney cake maker, so we could go home to Hungary to volunteer to help out in his business. We had some training. They showed us tips and tricks and the best technique.
What are Hungarian chimney cakes anyway?
Hungarian chimney cakes (kürtőskalács) are traditional pastries and a big part of everyone’s childhood back home. They’re made from a sweet yeast dough that’s wrapped around a rotating spit, coated in sugar, and baked. The sugar caramelises into a crispy crust while the inside stays soft and fluffy. When you pull it off the spit, steam rises from the centre like a chimney - hence the name.
Why The Pitt?
We’ve been big fans of The Pitt market for a while. We first discovered it when we visited the sauna, and when we walked around the market, we both immediately knew we wanted to be part of it. The atmosphere and community there are exactly what we were looking for. This orange container exceeded our expectations. It’s amazing, because we can store many things, think about expanding and maybe even start doing an ice-cream chimney cake in the summer. We’ve already started to experiment with that. I was away on holiday for the first weekend after opening, but Szabi told me it was a massive success and there were people queuing. The positive feedback was very overwhelming and sweet. For example, the Hungarian embassy workers came along because they’d heard about us before, as we had another pop up on Leith Walk, which is close to their office. They came to The Pitt, even though it’s out of their usual area, and ordered nine chimney cakes - a massive order. The Hungarian community in Edinburgh is bigger than I thought, and it’s lovely. There was a memorial day in October and we were asked to be there and offer some chimney cakes.
What is special about your recipe, and do you offer different varieties?
We worked very hard on perfecting our recipe, especially the dough. We had plenty of failed experiments, and it took around six months to get the recipe where it is today, but we’re always looking to improve. The hardest part was finding the perfect flour. We always offer six flavours. At the moment, these are cinnamon, vanilla, coconut, Biscoff, walnut, and pistachio. We rotate flavours regularly so we can introduce new ones. Chimney cakes are difficult to master, but everything worth doing is difficult. They require custom equipment, which we sourced all the way from Hungary to stay as authentic as possible. They’re very tricky to make at home. They need a special kind of oven, not something a lot of people have in their house, and also a wooden spit. If you tried to create that at home, you’d have to use an empty beer can and wrap tin foil around it, before wrapping the dough around it, but it wouldn’t turn out the same.
Are you the first in Scotland to offer them?
As far as we know, we are the first in Edinburgh to offer authentic chimney cakes.
Which is your favourite version and how many do you eat a day?
Our favourites are cinnamon and walnut - they’re very addictive. On a busy day, we usually end up eating at least one or two each.
What is the feedback like so far, from those who've tried the cakes?
The feedback so far has been amazing. People love the taste, but also the theatre of watching the cakes as they spin and steam.
What’s it like working together as a couple?
We’ve done it before, he has worked back of house and I worked front of house in restaurants. He’s really good at accounting and managing the kitchen, he really grew into a head chef position and he’s really hard-working. When we’re making the cakes. I like to talk with people, so I’m the one who’s taking orders, wrapping the cakes, taking payment, driving, posting on social media and emailing and doing marketing. Szabi does everything related to the kitchen.
For more information on Tekerch, who are at The Pitt from Friday to Sunday weekly, follow them at @hungarian_chimneycake
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