My Chocolate Kugelhopf

Hmmm... I think I kind of getting addicted to this pastry. The smell of the chocolate and the the taste overall makes me drooling. Especially, when it just comes out from the oven. The smell is so heavenly. So... I decided to make one today with the recipe and the guidelines that I got from Guido.

Here is the Nigella wannabe

As you know, I do not bake that often and as a result, I have very little experience with baking too. I had to gauge the quantity of the extra water to make a soft dough. It was a very pleasing experience to learn new things. To have a feeling towards to pastry. As others have said, we need to put our heart when we bake. The recipe is only a guideline. Well, the thing is that working with the reality of variation in ingredients. 

I made a slight change and adjustment to the recipe. I used full cream milk powder instead of soya milk as I do not have it today. I used 215 mL water and 1 tablespoon of full cream milk powder for the first hydration. I added 90 mL of water to make the soft dough. I think it was a dash too much. I will try with 60 mL (0.25 cup) water next time.

I also changed, just slightly, the composition of the filling. I used 40 mL water, 25 mL dark rhum, 3 tablespoons lingonberry jam and 4 tablespoons nutella. As for the icing, I used 100 g Lindt 85%, 100 g Lindt milk chocolate, 1 teaspoon soft icing sugar and 50 g reduced salt butter. I think I will add some cream next time to make the ganache 'pourable'.

The other things that I need to pay more attention are when I made the starter dough and the first proving time. My dough has more volume than his with the same amount of proving time. Also, the baking time may need to be longer for this wetter dough.

The chocolate filling came out from the dough because the dough stuck to the bench. I had to ask my husband to help me placing it into the tin. Some parts were torn and causing the marbling effect.

Covered with chocolate ganache... covering the imperfection.

Moment of truth... finally, I could taste my kugelhopf. The crumb is softer than Guido's and I think it was due to more water in my dough. It was more bread like, pretty much like sweet bun texture. Thus, my kugelhopf also do not have gaps in between the layers.

Taste wise, not bad at all!!!  For sure, I will make again.  Once you can make the bread or the cake sort of right, you will get the confidence and addicted. Trust me!

 

My loyal fan whenever I am at the kitchen.