Yeasted Transylvanian Cinnamon Sugar Cake

Name: Yeasted Transylvanian Cinnamon Sugar Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 100 min
Ingredients: 1.25 cups Bread flour; 1 TBSP Sugar; 0.75 cup Wholewheat Flour (sub with Pastry Flour too); 1 Egg (I used egg replacer); 4 Tbsp Neutral Oil (divided use); 7 grams Yeast; 1 cup milk (Warm, I used 2/3 cup milk and 1/3 cup warm water, sub with plant milk for vegan); 4 tbsp Cinnamon Sugar; 2 tbsp walnuts ((minced fine, skip for nut allergy))

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

There’s something about Cinnamon-based bakes that uplifts spirits. Honestly, for me baking cakes don’t go beyond the banana bread (which is technically a cake, but we are not going there today 🙂 ) and the occasional coffee cake or the Ragi Chocolate cake , Eggless Finger millet Bundt Cake (which is also sugarfree), that happens to be my husband’s fav ! Till I stumbled upon what Yeast Cakes were meant to be like.

Yeasted Bread or cake?

It seemed like a cross between a bread ('coz of the yeast) and a cake ('coz of the sugar), and although initially I thought I would make a Yeasted Banana Cake (I mean, it amazed me how many versions can really be made :p), I read this recipe and was quite taken in by the simplicity and the ease which didn’t require too much kneading and shaping (my nightmare when it comes to baking). Our current family favourite however remains the Chai-Spiced Banana Bread - very similar to the garlic spiced Pull Apart Monkey bread that the kids love.

History of this cake

I am yet to research this in full, but the cake seems to have its origin in Hungary (originating as Chimney cake) - according to this article by National Geographic. According to the history reproduced from the article-

The Kürtöskalács, or chimney cake, is a traditional Hungarian pastry that is wrapped around a wooden spool and slowly turned over an open fire. Its origins are from Transylvania, but they’re now celebrated as the oldest pastry in Hungary, and they’re often served as street food. The dough is coated with oil and sugar, and when baked it creates a crunchy, sugary outside crust, not unlike a hot pretzel, with a soft doughy inside.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/hungarian_chimney_cakes#:~:text=Its%20origins%20are%20from%20Transylvania,with%20a%20soft%20doughy%20inside.

While I kept postponing baking it, I finally made it post Diwali and the kids had a vacation for the festival so the little one was more than happy to help me in the kitchen. The aroma from the cinnamon bake was amazing, and although I halved this recipe, we had a lot of fun making this pull apart bread with mini treats which was mildly sweetened, considering we had OD-ed on Diwali sweets the week before. It keeps well under refrigeration, so would recommended microwaving a bit or two and eating this whenever the sugar craving hits you !

This makes an amazing bread on the dinner / coffee table and as it can be easily shaped and doubled or quadrupled, it would feed a crowd. So, do make these for the holidays and let me know how you liked these

Lets get to make these. Adapted from Adina's recipe here.

Tips for making a soft, moist Transylvanian Cinnamon Sugar cake

If Making the dough the previous day, bring it to room temperature before shaping and baking
This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled, so if you / your family has a sweet tooth or you are baking for a crowd, be sure you bake a large batch.
Water is dependant on Flour quality, adjust accordingly.
Any neutral oil is preferred, I have used Canola Oil
If you want to make homemade Cinnamon Sugar, mix 1 heaped tablespoon of home ground cinnamon powder in 4 tablespoon of sugar and then sprinkle on top.
If preferred, a teeny dash of all spice can also be added to the topping to give it a festive feel.
You can use 100% All Purpose Flour instead of a mix of Wholewheat flour and Bread flour, adjust liquids accordingly
Sub 2% milk with plant based milk of your choice for a vegan version.

PIN FOR LATER

What you need to make Transylvania yeasted Cinnamon Cake

Prep time (including rise time) - 2 hours ; baking time : 22-25 mins.

For the dough (1 cup- 240 ml)

Strong Bread flour - 1.25 cups
Sugar - 1 T
Whole-wheat stone ground flour (atta) - 0.75 cups
Egg - 1 (I used egg replacer)
Any Neutral oil except olive oil - 4 T (divided use)
Yeast - 1 sachet
Warm milk - 1 cup ( I used ⅔ cup milk and ⅓ cup warm water)

Topping:

Cinnamon sugar - 4 T (can increase to 6 ~7 T if you like a sweeter version)
Powdered walnuts - 2 T (optional but recommend the texture that this provides to the bread)

How to make Transylvania yeasted Cinnamon Cake:

Make a soft pliable dough with all the ingredients listed above and half of the oil. Let it rise for about an hour till it doubles.
Preheat oven to 180 C (375F). grease the baking pans as required. I used one 8*4 loaf pan, one 5 inch square pan and two ramekins to fit the dough.
Punch the risen dough once. The dough will be very sticky. take two oiled tablespoons or greased hands to pinch out a small ball, roll it well and dip generously in the remaining oil. And roll again in the cinnamon sugar-walnut crumble mixture generously and place in the pan.
Repeat for rest of the dough. Bake for 22-25 mins (the original recipe says 30 mins), but I reckon you can figure out what works for your dough.
Rest on a wire rack, and serve warm.

PS: the husband had his share the next day with a cup of Filter Coffee and said it was yum ; and the kids loved it as a mid-day snack (I reckon during vacation, kids are always on a I-am -hungry mode :p)