Poticapoppy Seed Kuglehoff Recipes

Steps:

• Mix the raisins with the Cognac and 3 tablespoons of the sugar in a small saucepan and set aside.
• Mix the yeast with 1/4 cup of the milk in a large bowl and set in a warm place for about 5 minutes, until it becomes frothy. Stir in the remaining milk and sugar. Add the salt and 2 cups of the flour.
• Beat the dough by hand or machine, adding all but 3/4 cup of the flour. Beat in all but 1 tablespoon of the butter, a tablespoon at a time. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that is soft but not sticky and is very elastic. Kneading should take 2 to 3 minutes by machine, or about 6 minutes by hand.
• Heat the raisin mixture and cook just until most of the Cognac has evaporated.
• Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and pat into a flattened rectangle. Spread the raisins on it, fold the dough over and knead a couple of minutes by hand to incorporate the raisins.
• Heavily butter a two-quart kugelhopf pan or a 10-inch bundt pan with the remaining tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with the almonds, turning the pan so they adhere to its interior. Place the dough in the pan, breaking a hole in the center to accommodate the tube. Set aside, lightly covered, and let rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Punch dough down in the pan. Let rise again, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the cake for about 45 minutes, until nicely browned. Allow it to cool completely in the pan, then unmold. Dust with sifted confectioners' sugar before serving.

Steps:

• Place poppy seeds and milk in pan and cook bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes Allow to cool.
• Separate eggs and mix the yolks sugar, honey and vanilla into cooled poppy seed mix. Put aside.
• Sift the flour making sure it is warm. Crumb the yeast into a large cup, add 2 tbsp warm milk, 1 tsp sugar, set the yeast into a warm place for rise.
• Mix the butter, sugar and egg yolks and beat until the sugar is well dissolved and the mixture is frothy. Warm up the milk, mix in salt, lemon peel, rum and the butter mixture.
• Combine the flour, yeast mixture and yeast mixture to form a dough. Either knead the dough until smooth or place in a mixer with a dough hook.
• Place dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover and set in a warm place until it doubles in size.
• Just before you start the next stage - beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Take about ¼ and mix through the poppy seed mixture to loosen up then fold the remainder of the egg whites through.
• Punch down dough and turn onto a floured cloth (this makes it easier to roll up) Roll out to about the thickness of the first joint on you little finger. Spread the poppy seed mixture on dough leaving a 5cm border at one edge.
• Roll the potica gently, but make sure there are no air pockets left in the roll.
• Grease the bundt pan with butter and dust with bread crumbs. Carefully transfer the potica into the pan, the edge should be at the bottom.
• Cover the pan with a cloth and set in a warm place to rise to double the size.
• Heat oven to 200C and bake 1 hour. If the top is browning too much cover with baking paper.
• Remove from oven and turn out immediately. Do not cut until cooled completely.

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350°F Using a cylinder shaped pastry brush, butter the inside of a 9 to 9 1/2 inch Gugelhupf mold or fluted cake pan. Coat with flour, tapping out the excess.
• Beat the butter in a medium bowl using a handheld electric mixer on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. On low speed, beat in the confectioners' sugar. Return the speed to high and beat until the mixture is very pale and light in texture, about 3 minutes. One at a time, beat in the eggs, then the lemon zest.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl, and stir in the ground poppy seeds. Mix the milk, rum, and vanilla in a glass measuring cup. Stir in half of the flour, then half of the milk, then repeat. Spread evenly in the pan.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto the rack to unmold and cool completely.
• MAKE AHEAD: The cake is best the day it is made. Cover leftovers tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. To refresh, heat slices in a toaster oven.
• NOTE: Buy poppy seeds in bulk from a purveyor with a steady turnover, such as a central European delicatessen or Middle East or Indian grocer (poppy seeds are used in the cuisines of the East, too). Poppy seeds in tiny jars from the supermarket are likely to be prohibitively expensive and rancid. Store poppy seeds in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freeze them for up to 6 months. Always give poppy seeds a good sniff before using to check for any hint of rancidity.
• Poppy seeds are usually ground before use to crack their tough hulls, which releases their flavor and moisture. Use an electric coffee grinder or blender. Grind the seeds in 1/4 cup batches until they look smaller than whole seeds and begin to clump together. A blender takes longer than a grinder, about 1 minute and be sure to stop the blender occasionally to loosen the ground seeds that collect around the blade. Serves 10-12.
• Kaffehaus.Rick Rodgers.

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.