Emperors Gugelhupf Recipes

Steps:

• Combine butter and confectioners' sugar in a bowl and beat well with an electric mixer until creamy. Set aside for 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 370 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease a gugelhupf pan (or Bundt® pan) with butter and dust with flour.
• Beat 1 egg in a cup and add to the butter-sugar mixture; beat until well combined. Repeat with remaining 2 eggs. Add egg yolks, lemon zest, and vanilla sugar; beat well. Fold in raisins.
• Beat egg whites in a glass, metal, or ceramic bowl until foamy. Gradually add white sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold egg whites into the batter. Fold in sifted flour in batches. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and turn out onto a cake platter. Allow to cool completely and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the sultanas and teabags in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water from the kettle. Leave to steep for 5 mins, then remove and discard the teabags. Leave the sultanas to continue soaking while you prepare the cake mixture. The sultanas can be soaked ahead of time; steep with the tea as above, then leave to soak, covered, overnight.
• Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl for 3 mins, or until smooth and pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, almonds and lemon zest, and mix briefly to combine. Fold in the milk to loosen. Drain the rehydrated sultanas, discard the tea, then fold the sultanas into the mixture.
• Generously butter a 25cm, 2-litre bundt tin. Pour in the mixture and level with a spatula. Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 mins, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Invert the tin onto a serving plate, leave to cool for 5 mins, then lift off the tin. Leave to cool completely, and dust lightly with icing sugar. Will keep for up to three days in an airtight tin.

Steps:

• Grease an 8-cup Gugelhupf mould with butter. Scatter the almond slices into the mould.
• Preheat oven to 325F.
• Cream the butter with 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar and vanilla. Gradually stir in the egg yolks. Add grated lemon peel.
• Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and the remaining granulated sugar to form stiff peaks.
• Mix the flour with the baking powder and fold into the egg yolk mix, alternating with the whites. Dust the well-drained raisins lightly with flour and stir in together with the walnuts.
• Pour into the prepared mould and bake for 45 - 50 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool briefly, and then turn out. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast with the sugar in the warm water and let it proof.
• Sift the flour, putting 2 cups in each of two bowls.
• Set one bowl aside.
• Work together 2 cups of flour and the soft butter (this may be done in the electric mixer).
• Mix in the salt and the eggs, one at a time, beating until very thoroughly incorporated.
• In alternate batches, add the remaining 2 cups flour and the yeast mixture.
• Mix in the electric mixer or with a wooden spoon until thoroughly blended and elastic, then stir in the raisins.
• Put in a large, lightly floured bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Punch the dough down.
• Heavily butter a standard 10-inch Kugelhoph mold or a 10-inch tube pan and sprinkle half the sliced almonds around the bottom of the mold (the butter will make them adhere).
• Pour or spoon half the dough into the mold, sprinkle in the rest of the almonds, and add the remaining dough.
• Let rise again until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 475 degrees F.
• for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until nicely browned, about 40 to 45 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let stand for 3 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Steps:

• Stir together yeast and water in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
• Heat milk with 6 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar over low heat, stirring, until mixture is warm (105 to 115°F), butter is melted, and sugar is dissolved.
• Sift together flour and salt into bowl of standing mixer. Make a well in flour and add yeast mixture. Add warm milk in a slow stream, mixing at low speed with paddle attachment. Increase speed to medium and beat in eggs 1 at a time, then beat in raisins and zest. Continue to beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. (Dough will be very sticky.)
• Butter kugelhopf mold with remaining tablespoon butter. Put 1 almond in each depression in bottom of mold (the almonds are only decorative; you can skip them altogether if your mold has no depressions), then scrape spoonfuls of dough evenly into mold (dough will be very elastic). Cover top of mold with oiled plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place until it fills pan, about 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Remove towel from kugelhopf and gently peel off plastic wrap. Bake kugelhopf in middle of oven 15 minutes, then loosely cover mold with foil and continue to bake until golden and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes more. Cool in pan 2 minutes, then invert cake onto a rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. Dust with confectioners sugar.