Who would have thought that Budapest would be one of the best travel destinations for sweet lovers? I didn’t expect to find so many Budapest cake shops with mouthwatering displays. On my recent trip to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, I found dessert shops, ice-cream stores, and specialty cake shops on every corner. Keep these gems in mind for the next time you’re in Budapest and looking for something sweet.
Budapest’s Most Popular Sweet – Kurtush
Kurtush or Chimney Cake is the most popular and prolific sweet treat on the streets of Budapest. You can literally find them everywhere, in Budapest cake shops and in small kiosks. They come in a wide variety of flavors and styles and the prices also vary dramatically. We found our favorite Chimney Cake Shop near our hotel – Eurostar Danube Hotel, not far from Deák Ferenc Tér at Károly krt. 13-15. This little wagon or booth on the sidewalk turns out delicious kurtush dripping with an overload of flavors. The best thing is you can watch them being made as you wait in line for your Chimney Cake.
Best Chimney Cake in Budapest!
A Kurtush (stovepipe cake or Kürtőskalács) is a traditional pastry from Transylvania made from a sweet yeast dough that is wrapped around a wooden cylinder (a bit like a thick rolling pin) and roasted until crispy. Then the dough is slipped off the wooden cylinder resulting in a hollow roll resembling a row of bangles. And now comes the magic! the Chimney Cake is then rolled in several “toppings” and sometimes even filled. The Chimney Cake Shop where we tried our first kurtush makes their kurtush in a cone shape and fills them with ice cream and tops them with sneakers bars, Oreo cookies, Twix, chocolate, Nutella, coconut, Bounty, nuts, and even lactose and egg-free versions.
Sugar! Budapest Cake Shop
This place was on my list of things to do long before we arrived in Budapest. It is situated just off the main street of Budapest at Budapest, 1061 Paulay Ede utca 48 but there is a second branch at Budapest, Petőfi út 35. 1042 (1st floor). Totally different from the Chimney Cake Shop, Sugar! is an elegant, spotlessly clean, and beautifully decorated restaurant and Budapest cake shop. They create works of art out of sugar, spice, and all things nice!
Their cakes are masterpieces, original and delicious. This Budapest cake shop also has a small store selling sweets and merchandise as well as a seating area upstairs. The best place to sit is on the outside window seats right on the edge of the sidewalk!
I loved the pristine white decor brought alive but the pops of color at this Budapest cake shop. Even the railing on the stairway is a candy cane!
Cookies, pies, macaroons, fairy cakes, unicorn cakes, ice cream, rice pudding, milkshakes, and coffee.
Mr. Funk – Doughnuts and Bagels
Mr. Funk is great if you want something sweet as well as a healthy bagel. Their portions are generous and their doughnuts are delicious!
To top it all off they make towering milkshakes stacked high with syrups, cakes, sprinkles, and other delightful accessories. These milkshakes have become a hit on Instagram.
Mr. Funk’s range of doughnuts includes “Suprise” doughnuts with a Kinder Suprise egg in the middle; caramel and nut; a doughnut covered in chocolate glaze and filled with vanilla cream; Mr. Fererra, doughnuts featuring the flavors of a Fererra Roche ball; a creme Berle doughnut; an Oreo-covered doughnut and an “American Pie doughnut stuffed with vanilla cream, cinnamon apple pieces, and caramel.
One of the most popular Mr. Funk doughnuts on Instagram is the Unicorn Doughnut but there are many other beautiful doughnuts like the Callebaut white chocolate doughnut with coconut cream filling. There is even a “poo” emoji doughnut and many other flavors to choose from.
Gelarto Rosa
Another Instagram favorite is the photogenic ice cream from Gelato Rosa. It’s more about what it looks like than what it tastes like, but it does taste pretty good too. The gelato shop is extremely popular and you can find long lines of people waiting their turn.
The ice cream shop was opened by businesswoman Niki Szökrön who studied at the Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, Italy, and learned the art of rose-shaped ice cream at a traditional family-run gelato shop in Italy.
They use a special spatula to add each petal to the ice cream flower. The ice cream is made with organic local ingredients. There are also options for vegans, lactose-intolerant customers, and those with diabetes.
And if that’s not enough…
there are even more Budapest cake shops and dessert stores to discover! I’ve listed the must-taste ones. An honorable mention for a unique name goes to the Doughnut Library. I couldn’t end this post without mentioning the historic New York Cafe. However, I have to say that the decor is beautiful but the service and menu are disappointing.
And when all you want to do is sit down for a moment with a familiar drink in front of you then there is nothing better than good-old Starbucks.
Find more unusual things to see and do in Hungary. I’ve made a video about this blog post, pop over and watch it on You Tube. I flew to Budapest on the cheapest flight online. You can find cheap flights easily if you follow this link.
Mouth watering pics, really didn’t know about all the delicious places, thanks.