TWD Update: Kugelhopf

I was planning to lug the kugelhopf with me on my business trip since I made it the day before I was to leave.  My tasting panel from work were traveling with me so I knew it wouldn't go to waste.  However, it wouldn't fit in my bag, and I didn't want another bag to carry on board.  With the way the airlines are going, they probably would have charged me $25 to take it on board.  I put the slices in a ziploc airtight container and threw in the fridge knowing it would be stale when I got back. What else could I do?

When I got back a week later, I was pleasantly surprised that it had kept pretty well.  In fact, I had to leave it out all day and overnight for it to go somewhat stale so that I could satisfy my craving for french toast.  Which, by the way, were out of this world if I may say so myself.  I didn't need any maple syrup.  It was perfect.

It's worth making the kugelhopf just so that I can make french toast again.  I made the whole batch and froze it so that I could have them at the ready whenever I had a french toast craving...at least until it runs out. 

French Toast

(enough for one 9-10 inch kugelhopf or about 12 slices of stale bread)

5 large eggs

2 cups milk

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 to 1 tsp salt

Slice the bread (kugelhopf, challah, Hawaiian sweet bread, baguette) into 1 inch slices and leave out so they dry out.  The drier the bread slices, the better they will soak up the egg/milk mixture.

Mix the eggs, salt, sugar and milk in a shallow dish. Soak the stale bread slices in the mixture until the bread slices are soaked through with the mixture, turning once. Cook on a hot, greased skillet or frying pan.

You can also add cinnamon, vanilla, and/or orange zest to the mixture.

Enjoy!

TWD: Kugelhopf

Woohoo!  I am now a proud mama of a KitchenAid stand mixer! And it arrived earlier than expected and just in time for me to christen it with this week's selection (thank you to Yolanda of The All-Purpose Girl for this week's choice).  This has been an eagerly awaited gift to myself and I couldn't wait to get started.

But, oh no, my bubble of giddy happiness was threatening to burst when the dough did not behave as it should. At one point in the recipe, it says the dough will climb up the dough hook. Whenever I anxiously peeked into the bowl, the dough (batter really) had absolutely no inclination to climb up anything.  In fact, the batter was so flat the end of the dough hook barely sunk low enough to do much to the dough other than to stir the surface.  When it came to adding the butter, I started to get really worried.  

The pats of butter I dutifully squeezed before adding as specified in the recipe just sat on top the batter. I had no choice.  I had to help my baby along.  I felt so bad, I couldn't help but give comforting pats while stirring the dough with my rubber spatula. I also added a spoonful of flour because the dough looked so wet...it looked like thick pancake batter.  Is that how it's supposed to be?

Once the dough was left to rise, it behaved more like it should.  And voilà! Here is the finished product.  Turned out better than I expected, but I haven't tasted it yet so we'll see if it really turned out okay.  I'm off to California early tomorrow morning (which is why I'm posting this tonight) on a business trip and will be lugging this baby along with me so that my co-workers (aka my tasting panel) can give it their usual taste test.  I'll give you an update when I get back in couple of weeks.