Trdelník
Sweet dough wound around a wooden spit, rolled in sugar and nuts and turned over coals until the outside caramelises into a crisp shell.
Photograph credit: Trdelnik Praha by MOs810 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Before You Start
Sugar before cooking, not after. That caramel shell is the point.
Overlap the spiral by millimetres, not centimetres, or the middle stays raw.
Roll the wound spit on the worktop to seal the seams.
Making Trdelník
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Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the warm milk, egg yolks, melted butter, vanilla and lemon zest, and knead 10 minutes to a soft, smooth dough.
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Prove covered for 1 hour until doubled.
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Mix the coating sugar, walnuts and cinnamon in a wide tray.
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Divide the dough into 8. Roll each piece into a rope about 1.5 cm thick and 90 cm long.
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Oil the spits or wooden rolling pins well. Wind a rope around each in a spiral, overlapping by only 2 to 3 mm, and press the ends to seal.
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Roll the wound spit firmly on the worktop to weld the spiral together and even out the surface.
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Brush all over with melted butter and roll in the sugar and walnut mixture, pressing it on.
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Cook over hot coals or in a 200°C / 390°F fan oven on a rack, turning every 4 minutes, for 15 to 18 minutes until the sugar has caramelised to a deep amber.
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Let it cool for 2 minutes before twisting it off the spit, and eat warm.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Why It Works
The sugar coating goes on before cooking, not after: as the dough turns, that sugar melts and then caramelises into a thin glassy shell, which is what gives trdelník its crunch against a soft interior. Overlapping the dough spiral by only a couple of millimetres keeps the shape hollow instead of solid.
Storage and Reheating
Eat within an hour of cooking. The dough can be made a day ahead and refrigerated.
Serving Trdelník
- Hot mulled wine
- A scoop of ice cream inside
- Strong coffee
Common Questions About Trdelník
How long does Trdelník take to make?
1 hour 30 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour of proving, so allow 2 hours 50 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
Trdelník Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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