Kugelhopf #BreadBakers


Today was a cold morn. As we peeped out of the window, silhouettes of arms folded and overclothed morning walkers or those out on routine chores emerged out of gray sheets of the first fog of the season. Had it not been for the kids’ school, first love would have been to snuggle up in the cozy quilts for some more time. As the day progressed, The Sun braved the fog and peeped out much to the relief of all those shuddering and shivering.


Colours of the flowers shone bright and beautiful.



We spotted a long-tailed Shrike in Marigold plants sitting atop flowers either sunning itself or presumably hunting for its prey.


The day turned out to warm and beautiful. We decided on baking a Kugelhopf. Holiday spirit is catching up and everyone is pining for a nuts and fruit-studded sweet bread.


Rum, raisins, butter and zest all landed up in the counter. Busy hands and constant chatter went hand in hand and a sweet fragrant dough was placed gently in the pan  to rise. The yeast too, braved the cold and the sweet dough finally rose albeit taking a lot of time. Patience was well rewarded. We loved Kugelhopf.


Part bread, part cake, Kugelhopf is one of the most popular Austrian desserts, and a classic for afternoon teas and Sunday breakfasts, at home or in Vienna’s Coffeehouses.
According to James Beard, this recipe was supposedly one that Marie Antoinette took with her from Austria to France, where it became a treasured staple of Alsatian cuisine. Serve it as you would a coffee cake; it is delicious with butter and honey, toast it or serve with fresh fruits and a dollop of whipped cream.


Kugelhopf
Sponge
  • ¼ cup warm milk
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon instant dry yeast
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Dough
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • ½ tablespoon rum
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup toasted almonds
  • ¼ cup sliced almonds

Syrup
  • Boil ¼ cup water and sugar till sugar dissolves. Add 1 teaspoon orange blossom water.

Method
  1. Stir all the ingredients of sponge in a deep bowl. Cover with a cling film and keep for 20-25 minutes till the mixture bubbles.
  2. Soak raisins in rum. Keep aside.
  3. Whisk together flour and salt.
  4. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
  5. Add egg yolk. Mix. Add vanilla extract and lemon zest.
  6. Add the sponge to this mixture. Beat till the mixture becomes uniform and smooth.
  7. Drain the raisins. Add rum to the mixture and mix well.
  8. Add flour and keep mixing. Initially, it will be a shaggy dough, but will soon become smooth and elastic.
  9. Add raisins and chopped almonds.
  10. Transfer dough to a buttered bowl and turn around so that it is coated with butter. Cover and keep in a warm place till it becomes puffy, about 30 minutes.
  11. Butter a medium size Bundt pan. Scatter sliced almonds evenly over the inside of pan. Scrape the dough into bundt pan. Spread it evenly and cover with a kitchen towel. Leave it to rise until double.
  12. During the last 10 minutes of proofing, preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Bake Kugelhopf for 40 -45 minutes until well risen and golden. 
  13. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan.
  14. Liberally brush Kugelhopf with syrup. 
  15. Cool completely before serving.


Linking  this recipe to #BreadBakers
BreadBakers
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
Our host this month was Stacy who blogs at www.foodlustpeoplelove.com. The theme this month was sweet breads. Thank You Stacy for being the host this month.
This is a list of sweet breads that we baked-

American-Style Panettone from Passion Kneaded
Apple Cinnamon Rolls from Sizzling Tastebuds
Beehive Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds
Candied Fruit Sweet Rolls from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
Chestnut Roll Wreath from Food Above Gold
Chocolate Cherry Brioche Buns from Baking Sense
Chocolate Swirl Babka from Cook's Hideout
Cranberry Orange Breakfast Braid from Kylee Cooks
Cranberry Sweet Rolls from Food Lust People Love
Cranberry, Pistachio, and White Chocolate Panettone from A Baker's House

Estonian Kringle from I Camp in my Kitchen
Finnish Nissua Bread from Gayathri's Cook Spot
Fruit & Nut Sourdough from What Smells So Good?
Ginger Orange Stollen from Spiceroots
Holiday Wreath with Sweet Nut Filling from Hostess At Heart
Indian Inspired Holiday Wreath from Herbivore Cucina
Julekake from A Shaggy Dough Story
Kugelhopf from Ambrosia
Marzipan Stollen from Palatable Pastime
St. Lucia Buns from Karen's Kitchen Stories
Stollen Bread from Sneha's Recipe 
Sweet Milk Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Far

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL 
to [email protected].







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18 comments:

  1. Namita your photos are stunning! The bread sounds like a delicious way to spend afternoon tea!

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  2. Hi Namita i subscribe to yr blog becoz i love yr stories and pics and ofcourse the recipes. Would love to try this bread-cake but Can u pls suggest an alternate for egg in this recipe pls.

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    Replies
    1. Hello Pallavi, thank you for your kind words. Yes of course, you may omit egg totally. You will have to add more milk if the dough seems hard. Happy Baking!

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    2. Thankyou so much. not to sound like a stalker but do you also host people? would love to visit your beautiful garden / estate / farm one day with my family :) and of course taste all the goodies that you bake

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    3. Pallavi, it has been our pipe dream to have a homestay in the hills. God willing if our dream turns into reality, I would love to invite you. It is a pleasure to hear from you :)

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  3. What a gorgeous Kugelhopf. I would be very happy to wake up to this on Christmas morning.

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  4. You could substitute a flax or chia seed "egg" (just google, lots of recipes for them out there) in this delicious looking recipe. It looks spectacular Namita but then so does everything you bake :)

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  5. That is a perfect Kugelhopf, and reading your description makes me want to make one right now!

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  6. That is a very pretty looking Kugelhopf Namita. Your pics are very lovely.

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  7. What a beautiful recipe. I love the combination of the rum, zest and raisins. It sounds delicious!

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  8. The high temps here in MI today is 14* F. No pics of flowers to share here LOL but your photos are gorgeous as is that wonderful bread.

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  9. Lovely bake for a perfect tea time treat......

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