Just when you think you’ve tried every pastry in the world, then suddenly you find yourself walking down Crown Street in Surry Hills. A woman sits at an outside cafe playing “Son of a Preacher Man” at full blast and this makes you stop and regard her momentarily. Then you look up and see a new addition to the street in duck egg blue called Kürtősh. A man stands behind the large glass windows twirling dough around a wooden rolling pin and then dips it in hundreds and thousands nuts or cinnamon sugar and then bakes it in its own Kürtősh oven.
So naturally, you just have to make a time to visit there with friends. Enter Buxom Wench and Silver Fox. She’s the loyal, questioning and outspoken friend of mine who has brought her lovely husband Silver Fox with her. At Kürtősh, the name of the shop as well as the pastry, cakes are sold from large slabs and customers choose the size of the portion they want and pay her weight. Cakes are about $4.50 per 100 grams and there are also a range of samples on top of the counters.
Savoury lovers, there are some burek pastries on offer: a three cheese, spinach & cheese, pizza and a mashed potato burek on offer when we are there. Although Kürtősh is Hungarian, the owners are Israeli and French and the cake offerings are European style cakes, slices and pastries. Alas, no closeup photos of the cake display-apparently the owners don’t mind photos of anything but the cake display but cakes once bought are fine. It’s a bit of a mystery and Buxom Wench declares it a “ridiculous” policy in these days of social media. To be honest, I’m not quite sure why as the cake display isn’t much different from what you would find at cake shops except things are made in large slabs and there are about 15 cake types.
Silver Fox and I order some things that take our fancy while Buxom Wench perches on a small wooden stool. Most of the tables but the one large share table are small and round with stools and you order and pay at the counter and take a number with you. We ask what is good but apparently everything is so just take our pick of what we feel like. Our total including one Kürtősh is $22 and that’s for the three of us so it’s not an expensive exercise at all.
“I hate that” Buxom Wench says when they bring the plate out. She is referring to putting a savoury item with sweet items. I have to agree, it doesn’t make much sense and the burek with the mild flavoured spinach and cheese filling has a slight sweetness to it on top of the pastry.
Clockwise from left: spinach and cheese burek, carrot cake and plum cake
We each take a forkful of the plum cake, a cake with a neat arrangement of dried plums on top. It’s moist, not particularly sweet and quite good indeed. The carrot cake is heady in clove and ginger and has a lemony dairy free icing that doesn’t taste dairy free at all-perhaps it’s that dairy free butter that they use as it is similar to a lemon buttercream with a slightly hard thin layer on top. Silver Fox finds the layer of icing too much but I’m an icing fiend so his too much is my too right 
Left: raspberry cheesecake and right: Dobos torte
The second plate has a tiny slice of raspberry cheesecake, not bad with a nice tartness to it. The Dobos torte, another Hungarian cake tends to be on the dry side. There is a generous layer of milk chocolate buttercream but the cake itself is quite dry as it can be. It really needs a coffee with it (and I did order one later, it turns out to be excellent).
Kürtősh $7.50
The Kürtősh or Chimney Cakes are freshly made although they offer us the choice of having one baked within the last half hour or one that has been freshly baked and we opt for the latter. They’re a Hungarian sweet sold as street food and each is baked in the Kürtősh rotisserie oven that fits a dozen at one go. It’s definitely the star of the offerings and cinnamon and sugar is the traditional flavour for Kurtosh. Hollow in the centre, the bread dough is burnished and crunchy with cinnamon sugar and fresh and soft on the other side. It also comes in flavours like Nutella, pistachio, hundreds and thousands and almond. “This tastes like a cinnamon donut” Buxom Wench says and indeed it tastes like a baked version of a donut with the crispy outside layer and soft inside layer. It’s also large enough to share between two (or three).
Buxom Wench is outside cooing at a girl who has two small pieces of brownie, about 5cms x2 cms. “Look at the baby brownies!” she says and the girl laughs. “I think that I am on a diet that I wasn’t told about.”
So tell me Dear Reader, what’s your favourite pastry? Mine is either a croissant or a Saint Honore! And what do you think about buying items by weight? Would you choose lots of small pieces to try or would you go for one or two larger slabs?
Kürtősh
604 Crown Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010
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42 Comments | Add your own
We saw Kürtősh pastries in Budapest in September when we were there, I’d never heard of them before!
The Dobos Torta should have a hard caramel topping, that is part of the fame of this traditional torta like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobos_torte.
I’m not much of a sweet eater but I do like the occasional Mille-feuille http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mille-feuille
Oh wow!! It all looks so yummy! I love the idea of buying by the weight if I am allowed to just have a sliver of everything! My problems is I feel up before I have tried all the things I want to, this would be perfect for me!
Oooh, my elderly Hungarian friend June would love those! I must take her! Thanks Lorraine!
Lorraine I’m glad we could see something of the cakes. The torte LOOKED nice, I’d love to crunch into the Kurtosh though. Chocolates can be chosen and bought by weight so why not cake? That way I can choose lots of different samples until I find my favourites! It sounds like several trips back. I love French pastries.
What an interesting find! My favourite pastry is definitely an almond croissant – I can never pass up one of those..
Sounds like an interesting place. I do so love the idea of buying cakes by weight. The first time I came across this was years ago in Dorset, UK, when we stopped in a village for a homemade style pork pie at a tiny shop. The butcher weighed it and charged us accordingly. At the time I thought it was such a brilliant idea and have since been to cake shops around Sydney that charge by weight. I would opt for lots of small pieces as love to sample everything! Must get and try those wonderful looking chimney cakes.
I do so love the cakes from Flour and Stone at Woolloomooloo, added bonus, the staff are so friendly and helpful, keeps me coming back.
I loved the kurtosh bread, I had the one with candied nuts but cake by the weight is tricky…you always spend more then expected
This is definitely a trend at the moment. I remember eating my first ever kurtosh at Glebe markets and I fell in love with it. I had mine with the cinnamon sugar, and well, anything with cinnamon sugar always goes down a treat!
Lots of bits of cake would suit me, but I’d love an almond croissant right now to go with the pot of tea I’m about to make. Monk pear or morning red…humm…
Fun place. You have so options open to you for fun places.
Kunnafe is a favorite, but so is just a perfect baguette or croissant. Phyllo anything. I’m a taster and love different small taste sensations. I’m ok with the weight concept, though the piece idea suits me better.
Lots of small pieces! I’d probably even break up the kurtosh and eat it in tiny bits
Well, all I want to see now is those big plnks loaded down with cakes.
I love the idea of cake sold by weight, and to get the best of both worlds you would need to try everything, and then commit to a large slice of the favourites!
Favourite pastry? I don’t understand the question. How CAN one choose?
I have never heard of this pastry. Looks delicious! My favourite is pineapple vanilla cream pastry that is very popular in India.
I always get excited when you blog about pastry shops , having two of our own , I would have to agree , fantastic place quirky and true to itself
but savoury with sweet xxx mmm not so flash
My favorite pastry of all time would have to be lobster tails – so hard to find in Sydney but I completely ODed on them in Italy. haha.
Loving the look of that Kürtősh!
This place looks fantastic! Such an array of exotic delights. Kürtősh is SO delicious, I adore them. I don’t mind pastry by weight I suppose. As long as I get pastry I’m happy
Heidi xo
That kurtosh reminds me of ones we used to buy as kids called french horns, but they were filled with whipped cream….yummy. Pastries always cost more than I think they should so I like to bake them at home….
Favourite cake or pastry would be anything except carrot cake (cake with vegies in is just Wrong).
Like everyone else I love the idea of buying cake by weight!
Selling Kurtosh in The Spot in Randwick obviously proved lucrative enough to open up shop in Surry too! Glad they are doing well, Kurtosh in The Spot is my favourite bakery/cafe. Will have to try this branch too. As far as pastries go, my favourite is (gasp) savoury – can’t go past a good cheese stick and La Banette in Glebe have the best ones.
That Buxom Wench sounds like a handful! I’ve never bought cakes by weight before. I want a photo of the cake display! And yes, I prefer my sweets and my savouries on separate plates xx
I live around from the one at the Spot in Randwick and it’s amazing! You should try the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Slice and the White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake! They’re the best!
I like the idea of buying buy weight but that’s only because I’m terrible at making decisions when it comes to sweet treats. Having a little bit of everything sounds perfect.
Kurtosh are sold at the Wollongong Mall markets every Friday but I’ve yet to try one, next time I will and opt for the traditional Cinnamon & Sugar.
I love small bites and that’s probably another reason I love High tea so much ;
Couldn’t possibly pick a favourite so Option B would be to be left in an Italian or French pastry shop to left to run riot,lol. So many cakes, soooooo little time!!!
That place looks adorable…kind of like a hipster’s loft. I’m having a hard time pronouncing its name though!
How delicious! And what a strange policy… but perhaps they want to protect the way they display their cakes?
Mmmmm my dad used to eat these pastries all the time when he was little – obviously a must try!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Oh, any new way to ingest pastry is more than okay with me!!
Now that’s something you don’t see everyday. I’m particularly intrigued by the description; a baked doughnut, you say? With cinnamon?! Och, I am sold on the idea.
I’m partial to a properly done pain au chocolat though I’ll not say no to any bit of puff pastry stuffed with plenty of real marzipan.
anything painted duck egg blue would attract me, particularly selling pastry!
It is always good to find new ways to eat cake. My all time favourite is the apple sfoglia I have in Ponte a Serraglio every morning when I am here.
I’ve been dying to come here and try a whole selection of cakes like at an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Especially the kurtosh.
Freshly baked donut-like pastry with cinnamon sugar? I’m there! I love trying everything so a little bit of a wide range is fine with me rather than big slabs of only one thing!
Those kurtosh look like churros or donuts!From a different culture
I’d definitely sample a lot of little things! I’m a complete icing fiend too! Just a little bit
Ah, learnt abt a new pastry today! Have never heard abt Kürtősh until today, thanks!
I would probably order a chimney cake for the novelty, then keep buying them for the flavour if they are as good as you say!
I love the idea of ordering cakes by wieght, that way I would order lots of little bits too taste as many as possible
I love chimney cakes after eating it in Prague. That looks amazing.
What a fun place to visit! Spinach and cheese burek looks so good. Yum! Dobos torte looks very neat, but I agree that it might be too dry for a cry – too clean to cut.
But, I might be wrong.
I would love to learn how to make those kurtosh cakes. You try it and let me know.
LOL
Love how whimsical this restaurant is — and I want to bite into the kurtosh! Looks so delish
I do like their kurtosh there. The other cakes though… I hate to be a poop, but I reckon it’s hit and miss. Having gone probably 10 or so times to both this one and their other shop. Some of them are delicious and you want more, others…forgettable. I love their tea presentation (milk in tiny bottles) and choosing your size though.
Gorgeous photographs and awesome write up -healthy recipe ideas, love it all!
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