Description
A kugelhopf is a yeast leavened European caked. This recipe is filled with orange zest, almonds, spiced rum, and dried figs.
Ingredients
Scale
For the cake
- 200ml milk
- 85g caster sugar
- 85g unsalted butter, softened
- 400g plain flour
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 oranges, zest and juice
- 12g dried yeast
- 2 large eggs
- 175g dried figs
- 60ml spiced rum
- Flaked almonds for decorating(optional)
For the honeyed figs and orange
- 120g unsalted butter
- 240g clear honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- The liquid from soaking the figs
- 2 fresh figs, quartered
- 1 orange, sliced segments
Instructions
- Roughly chop the dried figs and place in a bowl with the juice from the oranges and the spiced rum. Leave to soak overnight or at least a few hours.
- Warm the milk and 25ml water until lukewarm (in microwave or over stove).
- Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the flour, cinnamon, orange zest and and yeast (making sure the yeast and salt don’t touch) and stir in.
- Add the warm milk mixture and the eggs, slowly beat together in your mixer until it comes together. Then increase speed and medium and beat for 5 minutes. The dough will be sticky and very stretchy.
- Turn the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and leave to rise for 1-1.5 hours, until doubled in size.
- Grease your tin and decorate with almonds if using, a few just along the bottom is great too!
- Drain the dried figs, saving the liquid, and fold them into the risen dough. Pour the dough into your tin and cover. Leave to rise in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 190C/375F. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, make your honeyed figs and orange segments. Melt 40g of the butter in a large frying pan, add the liquid from soaking the figs, cinnamon, vanilla, honey and 60ml water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat.
- Stir in the figs and orange segments and reduce heat to medium. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Remove cake from the oven and cool in tin for 5 minutes. Then turn out onto serving platter. Use a skewer to poke a few holes in the cake and spoon the honey syrup over the cake.
- Decorate the top of the cake with figs and orange segments and pour more syrup over the top and serve.
Notes
A slower proofing in the fridge overnight gives this cake a really nice, light texture. But you could also do it in a warm place for an hour or two, until doubled in size, if you’d like to quicken the process.
Keeps for 5 days in an airtight container in fridge.
If you want to make the cake alcohol free, replace the spiced rum with more orange juice and add a little cinnamon and nutmeg to the mixture
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: European