Kürtös kalács or also known as cozonac secuiesc ("Székely cake") in Romanian, is a pastry popular in Romania and Hungary, originally from Transylvania. It is baked on a tapered cylindrical spit over an open fire. It is made by a thin yeast pastry ribbon wound around a wooden cylinder, heavily sprinkled with sugar, thus becoming a helix-shaped cylindrical pastry or a pastry roll that sometimes tapers very slightly towards the end. The pastry is baked on a hand-turned, tapered, wooden spit, rolled slowly on the wooden cylinder above an open fire.
The dough is yeast-raised, flavored with sweet spices, the most common being cinnamon, topped with walnuts or almonds, and sugar. The sugar is caramelized on the kürtöskalács surface, creating a sweet, crispy crust. You can find it easily in any christmas fairs or christmas markets.
