Tuesday, November 11, 2008

TWD: Kugelhopf


Kugel-huh? Another week where I have no clue how to pronounce the recipe I'm making! But I guess that's part of the fun of the process though.

The choice of Kugelhopf for this week was selected by Yolanda of The All-Purpose Girl. The recipe is posted on her site if you'd like to go get it.

Well, I now know that Kugelhopf is a French treat. It's considered to be part bread, part cake and is really quite unique and fun. It's traditionally baked in a kugelhopf pan, however I don't have the luxury of owning one. So I resorted to my handy bundt pan which worked well enough for me. I couldn't see myself buying the correct pan unless I knew I'd make this several more times.


The recipe was rather time consuming and a tad bit complicated. I felt like it had to rise soooo many times. First in a warm spot, then in the refrigerator, then the next day another 2 hours in a warm spot. Sheeeesh, this is the hardest I've worked for a TWD yet!

I was a little worried throughout the process because I don't own a stand mixer with a dough hook. I resorted to my little hand mixer for all of the mixing and I didn't feel as though it was really getting the job done. I mean, 5 straight minutes of mixing followed closely by another 10 straight minutes was hard on the arms. And without the dough hook, I was never sure I was getting it done right.

But it all seems to have come out correctly. I made a tiny version in a 5-inch springform pan for my hubby and I to share. And I made the one in the bundt pan for some friends with whom we had dinner plans over the weekend. It was really quite good. Our friends thought it tasted like a croissant and I do agree. Quite a unique taste and very scrumptious!

14 comments:

chocolatechic said...

Yours looks wonderful.

We really enjoyed ours.

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Scrumptious is a good word for it. But so much work! I'll make it again, but it won't be for a while!
Glad it was a hit around there.
Nancy

Unknown said...

Looks great...and you got an arm workout too!

Piggy said...

ah, now that you've mentioned it, it does taste like croissant indeed! Your kugelhopf looks really good. :-)

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

I had to do mine by hand too. Looks like yours turned out wonderfully! :) Glad your friends liked it too!

Anonymous said...

I loved this recipe. It was a perfect sweet bread. Yours looks yummy!

CB said...

I guess I would say it was similiar to a croissant but ironically I love croissants but not the kugelhopf unfortunately. Props for doing it by hand. I think if I didn't have my dough hook I would have wussed out! Glad you and your friends enjoyed the recipe!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

Mary Ann said...

I wish I could've fit this one into my schedule! I love the beautiful color of yours. It looks really pretty, worth all the work!

Pamela said...

Well, it looks good to me. I liked the way the shortbread tasted, they were quite scrumptious. But I do feel like I missed a little something by not baking this weeks recipe. Oh well...live and learn, right? Great job!

Cathy said...

It looks great! It really is similar to a croissant, now that you mention it. I'm glad that you all enjoyed this!

NKP said...

Ok, first things first.
You have to ask santa for a KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas. It is a must!
Good work on the kugelhopf, great colour.

Cakelaw said...

This looks great Melissa - I love how it is a deep, dark colour.

Kimberly Johnson said...

Looks great! I can't imagine making, well anything really, with a hand mixer! I'm totally dependent on my stand mixer. :)

AmyRuth said...

Yours really looked so perfectly professional. I'm sure your friends enjoyed the Kugel too. Impressive that you made time to make them with a precious little one. Happy Baking
AmyRuth