Recipe of the week: Hungarian cocoa rolls
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Chocolatey cocoa swirls, puffy dough and sprinkle of powdered sugar – this is the divine kakaós csiga (literally cocoa snail ~ cocoa rolls), the childhood favourite of all Hungarians.
The baked wonder was invented by Mór Pösch, a confectioner in Göd, in 1908, who originally called the dessert chocolatey twirl (csokoládés tekerge). He made it for his friends on his 33rd birthday, but he made so much that even his customers got some. That was the point when the cocoa roll started its world-conquering journey.
Since then, it’s the staple dessert of school canteens, bakeries and Hungarian kitchens. It’s mostly consumed for breakfast, but there’s no rule when it comes to which part of the day you should eat it: it’s just as good of a morning-starter as the coronation of any meal.
As hvg.hu captured the essence of cocoa rolls: the cocoa roll is the perfect creation of the Bakers’ Universe. Its strength lies in its endless shape: we look up to the sky and see the Milky Way swirling in a spiral. We look deep into ourselves and see our DNA twine into a double-helix. Helices are found at the biggest and smallest creations of nature, and the cocoa roll is somewhere in the middle. The cocoa roll is harmony. The cocoa roll is an impeccable shape. It is the gilt edge conceived in raised batter.
Eating cocoa rolls brings people together. We all remember those school lunches and afternoon snack times when we could hardly wait to indulge in the chocolatey heaven. As kids we thought of it as a special treat and couldn’t wait to reach the centre of the roll, which was the most chocolatey and sweetest part. You felt like the luckiest person on earth when you met someone who was willing to trade the centre of the roll for the outer layers.
Making homemade cocoa rolls is an activity that kids are guaranteed to love and enjoy. For one thing, they love cocoa and chocolate, and for another thing, the rolling process is very fun. They can also learn how to be patient, while the cocoa rolls bake and cool down 😉
As the name suggests, the classic dessert is made with cocoa. However, there are several other versions that taste just as great. Some people like to make it with cinnamon, strawberry, jam, but savoury versions are also popular, especially the pizza flavoured one. Nonetheless, we’d like to share the recipe of the original cocoa roll.
