What’s a chimney cake? State College food trailer teaches region about sweet treat

When Amy Reagan and her Air Force husband Matthew were stationed overseas in Germany, they came across a regional favorite dessert — Hungarian kürtös kalács, or “chimney cakes.” That was more than two years ago and, now, you can spot the couple’s Authentic Chimney Twists caravan-esque food trailer at festivities around the central Pennsylvania region.

“We would go to these Christmas markets and, at some of them, especially the medieval markets, they would have this really cool dessert,” Amy said. “We tried it and we thought, ‘Oh my gosh.’ Immediately, we just said these would sell like crazy in the United States. We’ve never seen anything like it. It’s so unique. They’re delicious.”

But getting from concept to cooking came with a few unique challenges — definitely more so than the average food truck owner comes across. The Reagans needed to find the proper equipment suitable for use on American voltage, as well as ship the equipment to the United States. They also went so far as to travel to Slovenia, for training in the authentic ways of all things chimney cakes. Their first event was the Lemont Christmas market in 2019.

But what exactly is a chimney cake, or a chimney twist, as Amy and Matthew call their creation? She explains: “It is a sweet yeast dough that we wrap onto a wooden pin. We bake it over an open grill and then we sprinkle it with sweet toppings ... People will ask, is it a pretzel? Is it a doughnut? It’s not any of those things. The dough is similar, but it’s not fried. It’s definitely not a pretzel. It has a totally different type of texture and flavor than a pretzel. It’s something very unique.”

And the name? Amy says, since the desserts are particularly popular in the cold months, when vendors sell the sweet treats piping hot from their mobile kitchens, the steam rising from the fresh cakes into the chilly air resembles smoke from a chimney, ergo chimney twists.

The State College food trailer offers a range of chimney twists, both in sweet and savory varieties, as well as filled, cone-shaped options. The best-seller in the batch, though, is the traditional cinnamon sugar variety.

“It’s kind of an easy win,” Amy said. “It’s not too intimidating for people who aren’t sure what it’s going to taste like. They’re my husband’s favorite. The next favorite would be our apple pie chimney, which is in a cone. We only do that one at Way Fruit Farm festivals. We use their apples, make our own filling, fill it up with that and our homemade whipped cream and it’s really, really good.”

But while the Reagans’ hunch that this Hungarian dessert would be popular in central Pennsylvania proved correct, the two are taking things slow. They’ve kept the side business primarily to festivals and farmers markets, and are open to doing private events, but otherwise want to keep things flexible.

“Before we moved to Germany the second time, I actually had a cake shop, so I’ve done the whole storefront run business. I don’t want to do that again,” Amy said, laughing. “We also have a lot of activities — my husband and I both do triathlons. He’s military, and our kids are in high school or now in college. So we definitely like having the flexibility of just running (the business) when it fits into our schedule.”

You can still catch the Reagans and Authentic Chimney Twists at the upcoming Mifflinburg Christkindl Market, Dec. 9-11, their last event of the season. For upcoming events in the spring, keep an eye on the Authentic Chimney Twists Facebook page.