Alsatian Kougelhopf, a recipe by master Piergiorgio Giorilli. An aromatic cake to bring to the table for holidays, shaped like a ring cake about 6 inches tall, with pleated edges, baked in a specific mold, usually glazed ceramic. Typical of the Alsatian tradition, also very popular in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and some cities in Northern Italy. Its origin is not very clear, there are few accounts about it, one says that it was the Three Wise Men who prepared this cake in its ceramic mold, to thank the pastry chef of Kugel who hosted them on a cold night. Another story tells that Marie Antoinette brought this cake to France from Austria, after marrying Louis XVI. Finally, the story of the Polish king Stanisław Leszczyński, who settled in Alsace in the 1700s, bringing with him his cooks and pastry chefs with their recipes. It seems that this cake is the father of the Babà, which Neapolitan pastry chefs imported from Poland. The Polish king, tired of eating dry Kougelhof, soaked a slice with rum. Its origins are not very certain, but what is certain is that it is a really good cake.
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- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour (W300)
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 0.7 oz fresh yeast
- 6 oz eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 oz white rum
- blanched almonds
- powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Mixer
- 1 Ring cake mold
Steps
Soak the raisins in warm water and rum. Soften the almonds in water for 10 minutes. In the mixer’s bowl, mix the flour with the yeast. Add the milk and half of the eggs.
Midway through mixing, add the eggs, salt, and sugar gradually.
Mix until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Only when the dough is well combined, add the butter in 3 stages, without losing the dough’s elasticity.
Add the previously soaked and then drained raisins.
Work for a few minutes to integrate the raisins into the dough.
Let the dough rise for an hour at 78°F-81°F. Transfer the dough to a work surface and round it.
Let it rest for 15 minutes. Grease a 11-inch mold.
Place some softened almonds at the bottom of the mold.
Place the dough in the mold and let it rise at 75°F-79°F, until it reaches the rim.
Bake at 356°F-392°F for 35 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let cool.
Spray with rum and dust with powdered sugar.
Tips
Rum can be omitted.
It can be stored for a week in a closed bag.
For a lactose-free version, replace the butter and milk with lactose-free or plant-based products.
For a lactose-free version, replace the butter and milk with lactose-free or plant-based products.
For a lactose-free version, replace the butter and milk with lactose-free or plant-based products.
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