The only thing more enjoyable than an ice cream cone on a 75 degree day (in early March!) is a chimney cake cone filled with ice cream, and the only place to get one locally is Twisted Rolls Chimney Cake (14640 Manchester), the 6-month-old pastry–and–ice cream shop in Ballwin.
The hook is the ice cream “cone,” a traditional Hungarian street food pastry that’s first rolled into a long strip and then spun onto a cone-shaped spit. The spiral-shaped dough is then brushed with butter, rolled in sugar, and baked until the sugar caramelizes. The result: a sweet pastry shell that’s crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. (Called kürtőskalács in Hungary, chimney cake takes its name from its resemblance to a spiral stovepipe, or kürtő.)
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Traditionally, the just-baked, caramelized pastry is then rolled in sugar and/or other flavorings, nuts, and even fried fruit, such as blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry. It’s then either eaten as is or filled with ice cream or pastry cream. At Twisted Rolls, there are nine options: classic (cinnamon sugar), pistachio, chocolate flake, coconut, almond, hazelnut, and chopped Lotus cookie, as well as several kid magnets, including Oreos and Fruity Pebbles.
The finished cake is then placed in a cardboard cup, the inside is coated in a flavored sauce, and it’s then filled with either soft-serve (vanilla, chocolate, or a twist) or eight flavors of hand-dipped Hershey’s brand ice cream, in flavors ranging from the basics to Caramel Cheesecake Cookie Monster and Superman (a mix of strawberry, banana, and Blue Moon).
Chimney cakes can be eaten with a spoon or as you would an ice cream cone, breaking off pieces of pastry as you go along. (Plastic gloves are available, as the process can get messy.) Another option is to order the cone as is, with a dish of ice cream on the side, using pieces of the cone as “scoopers.”
Filled or unfilled, the price for a chimney cake is the same: $9.95.
Also available are 15 varieties of milk shakes (made with soft-serve ice cream), as well as topped crepes, waffles, and mini-pancakes. Smoothies and Italian sodas are on offer as well.
The family-owned business began as a food trailer in Tampa, Florida, in November 2022. The St. Louis location is the company’s first brick-and-mortar and is open seven days a week. A brick-and-mortar store in Tampa is slated to open in the coming months, and the owners are also scouting additional locations in metro St. Louis.
