A toast to all classics: The traditional Bundt Cake is called Gugelhupf in the German-speaking areas. And this is what this post is about: The conventional Gugelhupf made from yeast dough is wonderfully fluffy, buttery and fluffy. Even if it is neither an unusual nor a hip cake, every baking household 😉 should have a classic, simple basic recipe for Gugelhupf. I'll tell you mine in this post.
Before we get into the classic Gugelhupf cake recipe, a brief explanation of the terminology. At least we talk about one of the most famous recipes in a German baking household. Over here, everyone understands "Gugelhupf" to mean something different: Some only mean the shape of the pastry, which is baked in a tall bowl cake or wreath cake form. It then contains a marble cake, sometimes an egg liqueur cake. The others have a narrower definition.
And indeed, the original cake is made with yeast and does not consist of a sponge cake. Grandma's Gugelhupf still tastes lovely today. It consists of a comparatively lavish, in my case stirred yeast dough, and is not too sweet. The thick layer of powdered sugar is all the more critical as decoration. Those who don't know the classic can perhaps imagine it best as a mixture of regular yeast plait and French brioche. The preparation is really not difficult - despite the dough, which is sometimes considered complicated. If you still need inspiration, take a look at our Gugelhupf overview page for more delicious recipes.
Gugelhupf Basic Recipe Yeast Dough Yeast Gugelhupf Basic Recipe
As already mentioned, my Gugelhupf recipe is prepared with yeast dough, which is stirred instead of kneaded. Of course, it has to go correctly before baking - not in the bowl, but directly in the mold from the very beginning. Butter them beforehand and sprinkle them with almond flakes.
To make the Gugelhupf juicy, fluffy, and light, I like to use double-grip flour type 550. Basically, however, it also works with standard white flour or light spelled flour. We prefer to eat the Gugelhupf with raisins. If you can't stand them, simply leave them out or replace them with other dried fruits, cranberries, chopped apricots or cherries.
By the way, you should eat yeast-Gugelhupf fresh, unlike the variants made from sponge cake. Or freeze it - it works wonderfully. But in most cases, there's hardly anything left anyway...
German Bundt Cake - Classic Gugelhupf with yeast dough
Ingredients
- 30 grams yeast fresh
- 20 grams sugar
- 250 milliliters milk lukewarm
- 150 grams butter soft
- 120 grams sugar
- 3 eggs
- 500 grams flour type 550
- 100 grams raisins
- 1 tbsp apple juice and/or rum
- 50 grams almond flakes
- 1 tbsp icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Pour the juice or rum over the raisins. Crumble the yeast with the sugar into the lukewarm milk and stir until it dissolves. Leave to stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, grease the mold (and sprinkle with the almond flakes on the bottom. The dough is enough for a large cake tin with a diameter of at least 24 cm or 2 small ones.
- Beat the soft butter with the remaining sugar until frothy and stir in the eggs well one by one. Add the flour with the yeast water to the mixture. Mix everything to a smooth dough.
- Sprinkle the raisins with a little flour and carefully fold into the dough. Pour the dough into the prepared mold (and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-1.5 hours until the volume has doubled.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees top and bottom heat. Bake Gugelhupf for approx. 45 minutes; cover towards the end if necessary. Small molds need only about 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool and sprinkle with plenty of icing sugar.
Loved making this cake in Mum's traditional tin, however I think it was a little dry and not as good as I remember Mum's to be. Any ideas what I may have done wrong or how to make it more moist?
Dear Ernestine
sorry to hear that - usually it gets moister if you reduce the baking time, or you use 1-2 additional spoons of butter.
Best
Jan