Incredible Transylvanian treats made from a 200-year-old family recipe for sale this Halloween in Queens

You don't have to visit Dracula's Castle to get a taste of Transylvania this Halloween.

A 200-year-old family recipe for a popular pastry from the spooky region of Romania is being served up by a Queens local – and by all accounts, it's definitely something to get your teeth into.

“This is real Transylvanian stuff,” said Radu Sirbu, 51, who is selling the twisted-looking cakes called Kürtöskalács from his food truck this holiday.

“Of course I’ll be dressed as Dracula.”

Sirbu, an immigrant from the legendary Romanian province, has been baking the cakes in his mobile Twister Cakes Bakery for more than a decade — and adapting them for Halloween in America by dusting them with bat and pumpkin sprinkles.

They were so heavenly that crowds sometimes had to wait up to three hours.

The cakes — also called chimney cakes because of their hollow shape — are made fresh in about eight minutes, he said, from sweet, pretzel-like dough rolled in sugar and baked in his custom-made rotisserie-style propane oven.

The street foods — which are particularly popular at European Christmas markets and have been enjoyed for nearly 400 years — are sometimes given a unique twist by Sirbu, who sometimes fills them with ice cream or tops them with flavors like pumpkin spice, coconut or even bacon.

“A lot of people first ask, 'What is that?'” Sirbu said, noting that many of his regular customers come across his stall at food festivals from April to November, such as the Queens Night Market and various Eastern European cultural festivals.

“Social media also plays a big role (in the business),” he said. “(Customers) then come back, they bring their friends with them. This is how I grow.”

The Middle Village resident, who has lived for more than two decades, began baking Twister cakes with his grandmother in Romania when he was about 12, he told The Post.

After emigrating to the US, he began baking Twister cakes as a hobby in 2010 – which grew into a full-fledged bakery through his success as one of the first vendors at the Queens Night Market in 2016.

He's now a regular at the seasonal night market and sends out an email newsletter to let loyal customers know where he'll be next – including the Sunnyside Night Market and the Sunnyside Christmas Market. For those who don't want to wait, orders can be placed for delivery in New York City or for pickup at Sirbu's Middle Village residence.

“We’ve expanded a lot,” he said. “Hungarians and Romanians became a minority (customer base).”

Demand for the authentic cakes reached an all-time high in 2022 when Sirbu began offering nationwide shipping – and an expanded selection of sweet and savory offerings. Many of his orders now come from New York, Arizona and California, he said.

Although Transylvania is associated with vampires and Halloween in the United States, the Christmas season in Sirbu is one of the busiest times of the year, with about 200 monthly orders of other Eastern European treats, from savory bread sticks to cheese pretzels to babka and plum dumplings.

“They’re all simple products, but people love them,” said the owner.

Sirbu plans to open a physical store somewhere in Queens within the next year, where he will offer his famous Twister cake as well as nearly two dozen other Transylvanian delicacies that he ships online.

In the meantime, the Queens resident reports that he's thoroughly enjoying the Halloween season and is looking forward to finding more events in New York where he can share his authentic bites.

“I have no competition, no one (else) can make it here,” Sirbu said. “It’s a tough business, but I enjoy doing it.”