Alsatian brioche Kuglof is a yeast based cake. Such as brioche, often baked with raising, nuts or dried fruit in it. Decorated with shaved or blanched almonds and icing sugar. It is sweet yeast brioche, and it can be served dry as it is. But most of the time it is served with a slice of butter, jam, marmalade or sometime even with ham.
Why the mini version of Alsatian brioche kuglof
As I promised last week, I am writing down this recipe for Kuglof. I made a little twist! Instead of making big size bundt cake Kuglof, I decided to go with mini version. And It is much cuter, then I thought!! Well judge for yourself, isn’t it cute?
I am posting very traditional recipe from Europe, which is not common here in North America. And this is why, I’m going to first explain, the origins of this recipe. What it is and where it comes from. So here is a little story behind my today’s recipe.
Traditional cake from Europe
Traditionally it is baked in distinctive round bundt cake mold. This recipe is very popular in Central & Eastern Europe. Including southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and especially in Alsace (France).
How my grandmother served kuglof for Easter
My grandmother usually made this Kuglof cake for Easter. It was one of the traditional cake made for special Sunday brunch, we had together with family. This special Easter brunch contained lot of treats. And as much as it might sound a bit unusual, this bundt cake was meant to be a substitute for bread.
This dough is a brioche dough. And if you know and had a chance to taste brioche, it is a yeast based cake. Which might be served as sweet dessert or breakfast (with butter and jam or honey). But also as a savory breakfast (accompanied by ham or cheeses). So, no wonder, our grandmother has been serving it with meat on special occasion. Are you asking why?
Yes this brings me back to our Easter brunch. It always contained the following food. So we had this Kuglof served with hard-boiled or scrambled eggs and smoked meat.
This all served along with horseradish sauce, mustard. Then we had sausages, some marinated vegetables, such as pickles, beets, sauerkraut etc. And we were chatting and eating, celebrating, being together, best feeling in the world, being together with family!!
Use one large bundt mold or 8 mini bundt molds
Now I will go back to the recipe. This time, I decided to use mini Kuglof cake molds. At the time when I was testing the recipe, had only 4 mini molds. This recipe is from my old grandma’s cookbook and it is written for 1 large bundt mold. So while I was making 4 mini bundt cakes I was left with half of the dough. And, so I filled half of my regular bundt cake with the leftover dough. So the next time I was making this recipe, I had to buy another batch of 4 mini bundt cakes.
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MINI KUGLOF ALSATIAN BRIOCHE
Equipment
- small bundt cake molds
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) dry raisins
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) dark rum
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) sugar
- 3 cups (750 ml) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) salt
- 2 1/2 tsp (12.5 ml) instant dry yeast
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) warm milk
- 1 cup Blanched almond
Instructions
- In a bowl or jar, soak the raisins in the rum. Set aside
- In another medium kitchen bowl, combine the milk and sugar. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer (using the dough hook), combine the flour, dry yeast and salt. Add the beaten eggs and milk mixture and stir vigorously until the dough begins to form.
- Gradually add the softened butter, then the raisins with rum. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes in the stand mixer or on a floured work surface.
- Form a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or cover with food foil. Let the dough rise in a warm and humid place for about 30 minutes.
- Butter and flour all the mini bundt molds. Place blanched almonds in each groove at the bottom of the pan.
- Spoon the batter into prepared pan. Let the dough rise for 1 hour in a warm and humid place, or until the dough doubles.
- With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the brioches cool for 5 minutes on the stove or kitchen counter. Then un-mould brioches carefully from the moulds and let them cool completely on a rack. Serve with a butter, jam.
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Megala
Looks so cute & delicious !
juliarecipes
Thank you darling 😍
Blogtastic Food
Wow that looks amazing!!! Love how you added the rum 😉 and your photos are fantastic too (:
juliarecipes
Thank you so much Nick, your encouragement means a lot to me 😊🙏yes rum is my secret weapon in sweets 😉, don’t tell anybody 😄
mistimaan
Your recipes are just wow Julia 🙂 🙂
juliarecipes
Thank you 🙂
vietnamtravelandculture
Reblogged this on Vietnam Travel & Trade Portal .
thesweetworldsite
Wow these look delicious! Thanks for sharing! I made a fantastic New York style cheesecake which you can check out here if you’re a fan of cheesecakes like I am 🙂
https://thesweetworldsite.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/cheesecake/
Jeannette
What a wonderful recipe that’s so perfect for the celebration period! And that kick of rum really makes this cake special. Thanks for sharing!
Julia
Thank you Jeannette! This recipe has a special place in my heart:) It always brings beautiful childhood memories during celebration times!
Emily Liao
Wow, this was so delicious! The bread was soft and fluffy, while the nuts added the perfect crunch.
Julia
Thank you so much for letting me know Emily! I am so happy you loved these brioches!
veenaazmanov
Grandma’s recipes are always special and this one looks so cute and perfect. Love all the excitement you had and feel too. I need to definitely save this recipe. Thanks
Julia
We always cherish these special memories! Thank you so much Veena, let me know how you like these brioches:)
Geneveive Zou
These little kouglof alastian brioche cakes looks so cute and delicious! I love how versatile it is and works well with savoury accompaniments.
Julia
Thank you so much Genenveive! We love having traditional yeast sweets:)
Kathryn Kelly
Baking powder amount not listed in recipe?
Julia
Hi Kathryn, thank you for bringing this typo to my attention, it should be written dry yeast, not baking powder:) all corrected now.