Why I'm building this myself.
I have always thought of myself as a sweet maker.
For four years, Budapest was home. Kürtőskalács — chimney cake — was everywhere there: dough wound around a wooden cone, slow-roasted until golden, then rolled in cinnamon sugar or cocoa while it's still warm enough to fog the air. It became the thing I missed most. I never stopped thinking about it after I left.
For the past seven months, I've been searching hard for my next corporate role — genuinely, persistently, following every lead I could find. It hasn't landed. And somewhere in that search, it became clear that the next chapter wasn't going to look like the last one.
So I'm building it myself: The AnGeRuCo Chimney Cake Company, bringing real, hand-rolled kürtőskalács to South Africa's specialty and gourmet food markets — the way I learned to love it, adapted for a new home. I haven't found anything quite like it in South Africa's gourmet food scene yet, and I want to be the one who brings it here.
If you knew me in Budapest, in Amsterdam, or anywhere along the way — you've probably heard me talk about this cake. Now I get to actually make it, and I'd love for you to be part of how it started.
The imported chimney cake oven, outfitting the food truck, our first batch of ingredients and packaging, and the market and stall fees to get in front of first customers.
This is the first thing I've built entirely on my own terms, after months of doors not opening the way I expected. Your pledge is what actually buys the oven and gets this business open — it's as direct as that. Every reward tier below, from a simple shout-out to becoming an AnGeRuCo Hearth Sponsor, is my way of thanking you for being part of that first push, however big or small.