Gugelhopf Twister

What do you know, it's picnic time again! Like every year Louise @ Months of Edible Celebrations will be hosting a PICNIC GAME on the 1st of July. I'm glad I managed to join in the fun this year. And the letter I picked is 'G' ~~~~

A ~ Apricot Cobbler
B ~ Banana Cream Pie
C ~ Cherry Bar In A Jar
D ~ Diva Doggie Bite
E ~ Emeril's Strawberry Lemonade
F ~ Fingerling Potato Salad With Honey
G ~ Gugelhoph Twister

And this is going to be a very long post.....

Gugelhopf is also called as kugelhof/kougelhopf or kouglof. They're actually all the same but only in different languages. Gugelhopf is an Austrian cake and it's quite similar to a German Kuchen as well but softer, smoother and fluffier. And here's where my inspiration came from, click here. Please do excuse my gugelhopf shape! I don't have the mould, so it ended up in a bundt cake mould. :o)

And here's what I did.

Ingredients for Starter Dough : (for 2 pans recipe)
1 cup lukewarm milk
5 tspn yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup flour
(combine all ingredients and mix well, leave to rest for about 30mins or untill double it size.)

Ingredients for Main Dough :
1-1/2 cups lukewarm milk
250gm butter, softened
200gm sugar
3 tspn salt
2 tspn vanilla extract
1 tbsp rum
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
starter dough
4-1/2 cups flour
*cocoa mixture : 2 tbsp cocoa powder + 1-1/2 tbsp water
*1/2 cup raisins + 1/2 cup dried cranberries + 1 lemon rinds
(coat 2 pans with butter and cover with flour)

Method :
(1) combine butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, rum, eggs and milk in a big bowl then beat till well mixed.
(2) add in starter dough and continue beating till combined and smooth.
(3) now stir in flour slowly till everything is well combined.
(4) withdraw 1/3 portion of dough and mix with cocoa mixture till well combined.
(5) and add raisins & cranberries into the large portion of dough then mix to combine.
(6) let both dough rest in separate bowl for about an hour or till double in size. Cover both dough with towel.

(7) place chocolate dough onto a slightly floured working table and shape it to a ball.
(8) now, again withdraw 1/3 portion of berries dough and place it to the chocolate dough.
(9) make a hole in the centre and then place it to the pan, place the leftover dough to another pan as well; and keep them covered.
(9) leave both dough rest for 15-20mins.
(10) finally, bake at preheated oven 175'C for about 40-45 mins or till brown.
(11) leave cool & top with icing sugar before slicing.

For extra deliciousness, you may also top with chocolate ganache. That will definitely kick your appetite. I've sent out the other gugelhopf to my next door neighbour. They're loving every bit of it. I hope you too! Enjoy & have fun.
Happy International Picnic Day!
(cake, bread, desserts,)