Ingredients:
2⁄3 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
11 tbsp unsalted butter, diced,
plus extra for greasing
1 tbsp dried yeast
33⁄4 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs (at room temperature), beaten
1⁄2 cup (3oz) raisins
1⁄3 cup (2oz) blanched almonds, chopped,
plus 7 whole blanched almonds
confectioner’s sugar, for dusting

Method:
1 Bring the milk just to a boil in a saucepan, pour 1.4 cup of it into a bowl, and let cool to lukewarm. Add the sugar and butter to the milk in the pan and stir until melted. Let cool.

2 Sprinkle the yeast over the 1.4 cup milk and let stand for 5 minutes until dissolved, stirring once. Sift the flour and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the dissolved yeast, eggs, and the butter mixture.

3 Gradually draw in the flour and work it into the other ingredients to form a smooth dough. Knead for 5.7 minutes, until very elastic. It should be very sticky. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1.1. hours, until doubled in bulk.

4 Meanwhile, grease the mold with butter. Freeze the mold until the butter is hard (about 10 minutes) then butter it again. Pour boiling water over the raisins and allow to plump up.

5 Knock back the dough lightly with your hand to push out the air. Drain the raisins, reserving 7 of them, and knead the rest into the dough with the chopped almonds. Arrange the reserved raisins and whole almonds in the bottom of the mold.

6 Drop the dough into the mold, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until it comes just above the top of the mold. It should take about 30–40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) when the bread has risen.

7 Bake the kugelhopf until puffed and brown, and the bread starts to shrink from the side of the mold, 45–50 minutes. Let it cool slightly. Turn out on to a wire rack and let cool completely. Just before serving, sift over the confectioner’s sugar. STORE The kugelhopf will keep in an airtight container for 3 days.

BAKER’S TIP:
This dough is very sticky. It is natural to want to add more flour, in order to make it look more like a conventional dough. However, this would be a mistake, as it would make the kugelhopf tough.

Kugelhopf Recipe