French · Alsace · bread

Kougelhopf

Kougelhopf reads sweetness 6.9, citrus 5.9 and fruity 5.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a French · Alsace bread, about 7 hr 21 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 6.9 · Citrus 5.9 · Fruity 5.6 · Sourness 5.5 · Richness 4.3 · Salinity 3.7 · Nutty 3.1 · Funk & Ferment 2.9 · Umami 1.4 · Floral 1.2 · Earthy 0.9

What's in it (12)

Time & effort: about 7 hr 21 min (1 hr 21 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 255.6 kcal, 11.4 g protein, 12.8 g fat, 46.9 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

  1. Soak the raisins in the kirsch for 2 hours, turning them once. Alsace makes the kirsch and Alsace puts it in almost everything; a kougelhopf raised on plain raisins is noticeably duller.
  2. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, lemon zest, warm milk and eggs and beat with a dough hook on medium for 12 to 15 minutes. You are looking for a slack, shiny dough that slaps the side of the bowl and clears it, and that can be stretched between your fingers into a window you can see light through. Until that window forms, adding the butter will only make a greasy soup.
  3. Now add the softened butter in five or six pieces, beating each one in completely before the next, about 8 minutes in all. The dough will look broken and hopeless for a minute after each addition and then come back together; that is normal, and the only cure is to keep going.
  4. Beat in the drained raisins on the lowest speed for 30 seconds. Cover and let the dough rise at warm room temperature for 90 minutes, until doubled and domed.
  5. Butter a 22 cm earthenware kougelhopf mould heavily, getting into every flute, and press one almond into the bottom of each groove. The mould matters: the fluted terracotta both shapes the crust and, being porous, dries the outside as the inside steams.
  6. Knock the dough back gently, shape it into a ring by pushing your fist through the middle, and lower it into the mould over the almonds. Cover and prove 90 minutes more, until the dough rises to about 2 cm below the rim.
  7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45 to 50 minutes. It is done when the crust is deep chestnut and a skewer comes out clean; if the top darkens too fast at 30 minutes, lay a sheet of foil over.
  8. Turn it out onto a rack while hot — leave it and the butter will set and glue it in — and cool it completely before dusting heavily with icing sugar. It is breakfast bread, not cake: sliced thin, with black coffee, and better on day two.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.