fidget smile wave

I don’t mean to alarm you but I have a bit of possible scandalous information to just get out here in the open.  Maybe scandalous is the wrong word.

Ready?  O.k. deep breath.  It has been said  and I won’t name names (my husband) that I seem far more excited about the nearing of season 3 of Downton Abbey than of Christmas.

What?  That’s crazy. I love Christmas time and the lights and the cookies and the joy and oh my gosh he may be right.  That Mrs. Bates was horrible.  And the Dowager Countess of Grantham, I die, she cracks me up.

Apparently it has been said that whenever an episode is on PBS lately I will turn it on no matter if it just started or it’s in the middle or I just watched it.   That may or may not be true.

Okay it is true and I’m not ashamed.  It’s like a little winter treat for a few Sundays out of the year and I’m just prepping for it.

It doesn’t mean I’m not excited about Christmas.  All the cookies eaten should be proof enough of my joy for the season.

My second bit of news had to do with this Apple-Raisin Kugelhopf.  This delicious cake/sweet briochey (is that a word) bread.  My husband had two pieces, not because he didn’t enjoy it but because in no time flat I finished it.  Yeah it was that good.  Plain, but even better toasted with a little butter.  Swoon!  I could not be stopped and because it is the holidays and I AM looking forward to them I don’t dare try to.  I just put a few more soups and salads on the dinner menu.  Mrs. Patmore would approve, maybe. She might just yell at me!

Let’s get some butter, milk, sugar and vanilla all warmed up to start!

This dough was so nice to work with, I could not stop talking it about it.  My husband already knows I’m an odd duck, it’s okay.

Then we let the dough rise.  Beware of Franklin who has a sweet tooth, as proven here!

Get your filling together, Apple, raisins and sugar..Swoon!

Then we go cinnamon roll style by rolling out the dough into a rectangle, brush with butter, sprinkle filling, roll and cut.

Then we place them in a butter bundt pan.  They have special kugelhopf ceramic pans, what?  I’m not together enough of an adult to have one, I used my angel food tube pan.

You want to put half the slices cut side around the wall of the pan and the other half cut side together around the middle.  Than let it rise again.

To the oven it goes!

Folks, we have a kugelhopf!  Just let it cool for an hour, remove it from the pan and dust this bad boy with powdered sugar!

Apple-Raisin Kugelhopf

adapted from Martha Stewart Living

ingredients

1 cup whole milk

1 + 1/2  sticks unsalted butter (plus more for bowl and pan)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

3 large eggs

1 egg yolk

Filling

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup raisins

10 oz sliced apples ( about 3)

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

Powdered sugar for dusting

To make the dough bring the milk almost to a boil in a saucepan.  Remove it from heat and stir in the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt, let melt together a bit.  Transfer to your mixer bowl and let cool for a few minutes.  Add 1+ 1/2 cups flour and the yeast to milk mixture and beat on low.  Beat in eggs and egg yolk one at a time then beat in remaining 3 cups flour a 1/2 cup at a time.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth (it starts out sticky) about 5 minutes.  Put dough in a buttered bowl and turn it to coat.  Cover and place in a warm spot and let it double in size.  About an hour. After rising, knead the dough a few times then let rest for 10 minutes.  Roll out the dough to about a 14 x 22 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface.

To make filling mix the brown sugar, raisins and sliced apples.  Brush melted butter on top of the rolling out dough and sprinkle filling on top leaving a 1 inch border.

Starting on the long side roll the dough up.  Cut the dough into 12 slices and place 6 (I had to use 7) slices flush against the buttered tube pan’s wall.  Place the remaining slices around the middle with the cut sides facing each other.  Cover the pan and let the dough rise until doubled.  About 2 hours.  The juices from the apples may leak out of the pan if you use one that is 2 pieces so place on a plate to not have a mess.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake cake until golden and toothpick comes out clean.  About 45 minutes.  I placed a cookie sheet on the lower rack to prevent juices from leaking onto my oven floor because again I used a 2 piece angel food cake pan so just check your cake during the last ten minutes just to be safe and not have it burn.  Let the cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes than remove from pan and let cool for an hour.  Dust with powdered sugar before serving.  This is fantastic toasted with butter for breakfast (Perfect for Christmas morning!)  which is how I devoured it so quickly.  Enjoy!