Tuesdays with Dorie—Kugelhopf

kugelhupf, gugelhupf, kugelhoph, kougelhupf, cougloff, kougloff
Kugelhopf is a German, Austrian, Swiss and Alsatian term for coffee cake with yeast. Kugel means "ball" or "globe", but this cake usually has a hole in it. More doughnut-like, if you ask me.

I made this type of cake earlier this year, but it was called Tarte au sucre. I had nothing but trouble with this cake then, but Dorie's version came together easily. Having the right recipe and set of instructions is all you need.

Yeast breads and coffee cakes evolved from early honey cakes. According to Food Timeline, around the 17th century in Northern/Central Europe, eating sweet cakes with coffee became more common. There is even an Alsatian legend that the magi left the Kugelhopf in Alsace on their way to Bethlehem. To celebrate this legend, 

A Kugelhopf mold, traditionally made of oven-proof earthenware, has a central cylinder that helps cook the inside of the cake more quickly. To make Kugelhopf, I used my sit-in-the-corner-and-gather-dust individual bundt pans. It was great to have an opportunity to use this pan again.

Did you know: National Bundt Cake Day is November 15, 2008. There is even a contest called 2008 Bundts Across America Contest and the winner could win $10,000.

Recipe

You can find the recipe for Kugelhopf in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours
by Dorie Greenspan or here. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger! Thanks to Yolanda from The All-Purpose Girl who chose the recipe for this week.

Tasting Notes
This is a great breakfast or afternoon treat since it's not too sweet and lingers more on the bread side than the cake side. And although it's not hard to make, it does require some babysitting (and it's best to have a stand mixer to knead the butter into the dough). According to this New York Times article, you can even make a savory version with smoky bacon and crunchy walnuts. I think I'll give that a try next time I make this.

Recipe for Next Week (November 18)
Arborio Rice Pudding on pages 412 and 413 chosen by Isabelle from Les gourmandises d’Isa.

My Bucket List
I've been wanting to start this list for some time now, and today seems like a good day to start it. Based on my reading about Kugelhopf, I'm adding the following things to my list of things I'd like to do in life:

Go to Ribeauvillé in Alsace in June for their annual Kugelhopf fête.

Taste Kugelhopf from a local patisserie in Alsace.

Has anyone tasted authentic Kugelhopf in Alsace?

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