Trdelnik (Funnel cake)

In the winter, funnel cakes are delicious served warm at a Christmas market with a glass of mulled wine. The sugar and cinnamon melt on your tongue sweetly, and the cake provides you the energy you need to go exploring for hours.

Slovaks, on the other hand, have lately altered the funnel cake to include a summer variant — one with vanilla ice cream filled within. This classic Slovak dessert is now available all year!

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted; ¾ cup milk, warm; 5 tablespoons butter, melted; 2 eggs, lightly beaten; 1 teaspoon active dry yeast; 2 tablespoons sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; Oil (for greasing trdlo sticks); Cinnamon; Sugar

Instructions:

• In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of sugar, milk, and yeast. Set aside for 10 minutes.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together 2 egg yolks and butter.
• Add the flour, then the yeast mixture, and the salt.
• Combine and mix well. The dough will be quite dense.
• Form the dough into a ball, place it in the bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until it almost doubles in volume.
• Meanwhile, roll magazines into a stick and secure them with cooking twine or scotch tape. Tightly cover each stick with aluminum foil and tuck the edges on each side of the magazine.
• Preheat the oven to 380F/190C (ideally convection mode).
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to approximately ⅛ inch (3mm) thickness. Using a small knife, cut ½ inch (1cm) thick strips (at least 8 inches/20cm long).
• Grease each to stick by spraying oil on them. Tightly wrap each strip of dough around the sticks making sure each strip slightly overlaps the other. Each stick should fit about 3 trdelnik pastries, leaving about 1 inch between them.
• Combine cinnamon and sugar (to taste) on a large baking sheet.
• Brush each trdelnik with egg white and generously coat with the cinnamon sugar.
• Place the trdlo sticks on a baking dish making sure the pastry doesn’t touch the bottom or the sides of the dish.
• Bake the trdelnik for 20 minutes until they are golden all around.
• Carefully slide off the trdelnik from the sticks.