Tuesday, November 11, 2008

TWD: Kugelhopf


Unlike many of the other TWD bakers, I did not have any problems with my kugelhopf this week. Even making only half a recipe, there were no difficulties – the dough came together nicely, dried sour cherries replaced the ubiquitous raisins, the first rise took less than 90 minutes, the stay in the refrigerator went fine (no partying over night), and the final rise went smoothly.

Well, more or less.

I had this brilliant idea, you see. Because I had a guild board meeting this morning, I figured it would be a perfect time to do the final rise, since I would be gone about 3 hours. Only, I was gone nearly 4, so the poor dough was basically overproofed by the time I arrived back home. As I walked in the door, I could smell a slightly yeasty aroma wafting through the air. Hmmm, I said to myself, I wonder what that’s from. (Duh, can we say ‘momentarily clueless’?) Oh, right, ack! the kugelhopf. The kugelhopf that should have been in the oven an hour ago.

Not to worry, though. I heated the oven, put it in to bake, and 25 minutes later I had a lovely kugelhopf. The major change I made was the pan. I don’t have the prescribed pan, and my bundt pan would have been too large, so I ended up using my Wasserbadform pan, which was only a tiny bit too large, but more contained than the bundt pan. Anyway, the end result was just fine.

I brushed the hot kugelhopf with melted butter and sprinkled on the granulated sugar. As it cooled, a nice crust formed on the outside. After dinner, I was finally able to cut a slice. I really liked the yeasty flavor, the tang of the sour cherries, and the open texture.

To me, this is more bread-like than cake-like, a definite cousin of brioche. Adding some lemon zest would really add a pop to the overall taste, I think. Maybe a bit more salt. So, now I will be on the lookout for a kugelhopf pan so I can make this again and do the full recipe with a few changes.

Thanks to Yolanda of The All-Purpose Girl for choosing such a challenging recipe. I know the other TWD bakers will have much to say about this one!

18 comments:

Andrea said...

Pleased to see you had success with this recipe.

The kuglehopf made my hubby ask when the pannetone will be made...

NKP said...

So happy that yours came about so nicely. Love the bread form. I haven't heard of that one.
I think sour cherries (and the lemon zest) would be amazing.
I will definitely make this again.
Mine also rose for 4 hours, on purpose, as it is cool in here.
I think the bread bakers liked this one the best!

chocolatechic said...

I am so glad that you didn't have any problems with this one.

It looks fabulous.

MacDuff said...

Great job with this! I thought about using dried cherries but went with the cheaper raisins. Want to try this again, though.

ostwestwind said...

In Germany every daughter gets a guglhupf pan, when she leaves home ;-). And I totally agree with lemon and salt.

http://deichrunner.typepad.com/mein_weblog/2008/10/gugelhupf-nach.html

ostwestwind said...

I forgot to type that the link ends with a "real" Guglhupf-recipe...
Sorry

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

The Food Librarian said...

Great job! It looks great in the Wasserbadform pan. Sour cheery is a great addition.

Jayne said...

I didn't have any problems with mine, either! After reading a lot of other unhappy TWD bakers' recounts of their experiences, I was starting to somehow think I'd done something wrong, since mine turned out fine. Weird. Yours looks great!

Jodie said...

Looks great! I didn't have any problems with mine, either. Mine rose surprisingly quickly. Good thing, too. Otherwise, I probably would've trashed it. :)

Megan said...

I wish I halved the recipe, so I've got still got half leftover if you're interested!

Cherries sound like a nice addition!

Marthe said...

Your Kugelhopf sounds delicious!!

Anonymous said...

Your kugelhopf looks perfect. Nice and golden and yummy! I loved this recipe.

Tammy said...

I am pleased it worked out well for you!

Anonymous said...

i love you kugelhopf!! it turned out beautiful. it reminds me of a dense,sweet bread or maybe even a pound cake. i've never had one, but that's the impression i get from looking at it.

Anonymous said...

Agh! At least you didn't leave your dough proofing on the stove forever. I did that once and forgot about it. Wound up wasting a Saturday cleaning Amish Friendship Bread dough out of the burners. ;)

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Bread can be so forgiving. Looks beautiful Judy. You scored!

Kimberly Johnson said...

Sour cherries sound like a great substitution! Great job on your Kugelhopf!

AmyRuth said...

Great job really beautiful.
AmyRuth