The Pétrin

In a large bowl, whisk eggs with milk, sugar, cardamom and salt. Add 500g of flour and mix with a wooden spoon until all flour is blended. Add remaining flour in 2 or 3 times and continue to mix with the spoon. . Once the dough begins to form a mass around the spoon, vigorously working the beat as an omelette (the raise and make it back repeatedly) for about ten minutes the dough is quite soft and sticky, it will take the body as during labor. Let dough rest about fifteen minutes covered with a cloth, it will be easier to handle.
Add the softened butter in small pieces and continue to beat the dough as before, first with the spoon and then with the hand: catching the pulp underneath the lift, release and repeat this process by turning the bowl as and measure this action mimics that of the dough hook of a mess, it stretches the dough and introduces air into it. Once the dough becomes smooth and begins to snap, leaving the rest again, covered, for 15 minutes.
Transfer the dough on the work surface lightly flour and knead for ten minutes regularly, adding a veil of flour if it sticks too much to the work plan (2 to 3 cs should suffice with the T55 or T65) in the end kneading, the dough should be soft, elastic with a smooth surface and homogeneous.
Put the dough in a bowl lightly oiled or buttered, cover with film support and let rise about 2 hours or until doubled in volume.

Pour the dough on a lightly oiled work, the inward-looking 2 or 3 times and then divide it into 20 pieces of equal weight (90-95g). Cover the pieces and let them relax in 5 minutes to relax the gluten. Shape each piece of dough into pretzel as indicated here and file as of 2 hotplates lined with parchment paper, leaving at least 3 inches of space between each.

Cover with a clean cloth and let stand until the pretzels have almost doubled in size approximately 45 min.

Preheat oven 6-7 th (200 ° C). Brown pretzels in basting brush gently with the beaten egg with a little milk. Sprinkle with sugar grain.

Oven and bake 15 to 20 min: The pretzels should be golden brown on the surface (be careful not to cook to keep everything moist). Cool on rack.

Source: Adapted from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book Beatrice Ojakangas via lemonpi

(Alphonse Levy)

When one starts with passion in the bakery, there are few recipes for breads or rolls that we did not want to try .. by greed, curiosity, challenge. By eating the dough as I am, I went to poke at my virtual tours to find and realize the most typical recipes around the world .. but so far the kugelhopf was not part of my "repertoire" and for good reason: for me, purist and committed to the culture and traditions even when they are not mine, not a question that kugelhopf adequate in the mold! Not even in my mold Teflon kouglof I love to use my cakes!
And so since 2 1 / 2 years, over the bakery forums and blogs, I watched with envy revenue kouglof (especially Fiji) secretly dreaming to finally have the mold coveted! Who said dreams do not become reality ..?

There was once a small Alsacienne love pretzels Sweet who had the preposterous idea of putting a small grain of salt in my mailbox. Fear of being in trouble by sending me the little delicacies consistent with my dietary restrictions, she had the brilliant idea to send me this would never have guessed it to be the object of my desires: the famous mold! A miracle for me and Estelle also failed to despair of the arrival and the condition of his wonderful gift, after his difficulties with the position, a wrong street number, a first mold cracked on arrival .. Because you think maybe not, but referred me Estelle when a mold that has had its first unsupported trip! She deserves the best kugelhopf the world, you do not ..?!!

In a large bowl or bowl, add flour: digging a well and pour in the yeast water and crumbled (you can also grind the yeast in water). Mix quickly with fingertips together to form a ball of dough a little thicker. Cover completely with 500g of flour taken from the 600, cover with film support and let stand 1 hour.

The yeast-fermenting yeast will swell and push the flour which will introduce the surface cracks.

Preparation of pulp

During the growth of yeast-yeast, prepare the raisins in them macerate in a bowl with the rum.

Note: I have blond raisins because they spend more undercover for children - and also because I do remember that I was black grapes! - But is still kugelhopf best grapes with dark contrasting with the economy!

Add to the bowl containing the leavening yeast milk, eggs, sugar and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon to blend the ingredients gradually adding the remaining flour and then as soon as the dough begins to gather into a ball, the work by hand directly into the bowl by lifting the first stretch then letting it fall. Continue beating the dough in this way for 10 minutes (do not worry, the dough as it takes the body becomes easier to work). When the dough starts to become smooth, add the softened butter into several times and incorporate it by beating the dough as before, lifting, stretching as far as possible to aerate the dough until it falls off the walls.

Note: the addition of butter, the dough becomes sticky and heterogeneous. For the best to work without requiring a significant addition of flour, I advise you to imprison the pieces of butter in the dough before the work: the hands are not in direct contact with fat, they do not stick practically no to the pulp and thus adding additional flour is limited, the paste remains flexible and lightweight.

Drain raisins and add them to the dough mix to incorporate and knead a few minutes for the dough is homogeneous.
Replace the dough ball in bowl, cover with film support and let rise 1 hour away from the draft (internal oven light turned on is the best fermentation room house that I know!).

If you do not / can not / do not want to knead by hand, you can use a robot, map or other ..

(Alphonse Levy)

Preparing molds kouglof butter generously inside the mold by focusing on the splines and then drop to the bottom of each of them a whole almond.

Note: I only had almonds mondées but I think the contrast would be more beautiful with almonds mondées not. Some use slivered almonds or raisins big black.
For the first use of mold in my land, I followed the recommendations found on a kitchen alsacienne butter pan nine, a 10 min in a hot oven (6 th - 180 ° C for me), let cool and then repeat the operation: butter, heat, cool and butter to the pan again before incorporating the dough.

Degas the dough into the crushing with the flat of the hand then the transfer on the work surface lightly flour. Fold the dough several times on itself and then divide it into 2 pieces of the same weight (about 750g). Shape each piece into a ball regular key cohesive, slightly flatten the surface of the ball and, with the index and the major flour dig a hole in the center by turning the fingers to enlarge more and more until that it measures about 7 cm (ensuring that the crown is obtained due to a better final report).
Submit each crown in the pan, cover with a clean cloth and let rise at least 2 h: the dough should at worst reach the edge of the mold, but the ideal is to let rise until dough slightly beyond (which gives a good basis for kugelhopf).

Preheat oven 6 th (180 ° C) at least 20 min before the end of the primer. Bake kugelhopf on the same grid and cook for about 35 to 45 minutes (check with a peak at that wooden skewer comes out dry) by putting a sheet of aluminum foil over the mold after 20 min of cooking at low closely. Kugelhopf Remove from oven, allow to "rest" for 1 min before unmould still warm on a serving plate.

To serve, you can choose between 3 options:

1. Sprinkle with icing sugar as kugelhopf "dusted" the bakery family Felder to Schirmeck in Alsace
2. Brush the surface of kugelhopf at the exit of the oven with melted butter and then sprinkle with powdered sugar as does Pierre Hermé
3. Brush kugelhopfs with a sugar syrup flavored with orange flower water and almond extract, as is done it seems to Strasbourg. This trick, in addition to a nice shiny appearance to kugelhopf allows for better conservation and a soft texture.

From the same family as panettone, the kugelhopf is a bun that tends to dry quickly (.. but even hardened slices make excellent brioches lost!). To keep it in the best conditions, fully wrapped with the film support.

Source: Adapted from My 100 recipes Christophe Felder