Gugelhopf!

Unusual name, delicious cake. According to wiki, the name, which is German,  has something to do with the cake being round and raising. Gugelhopf is a yeasty cake with a hidden little suprise inside...

Chocolate hazelnut spread!

These are so good warmed up with a cuppa. And not all that tricky to make.

Here's what you'll need

Chuck your dry yeast in a bowl

Add some warm milk, 2 tsps of plain flour and 2 tsps of sugar then cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Cream your butter and sugar, and add your egg yolks and vanilla in a separate bowl while you wait

After 15 minutes the yeast mixture should be foamy and fluffy. Add the yeast and remaining flour in alternating batches to the butter/egg mixture.

You should end up with a thick, slightly sticky dough. This will be going in your gugelhopf tin

Unfortunately I don't have a gugelhopf tin, so I decided to make mini gugelhopfs with this.

Put about a tablespoon of dough into each tin and make a well in the middle

Then fill up that well with your hazelnut spread

Then cover it up with a bit more dough. You don't want the tin to be filled right up, just about 2/3 of the way

Then cover em up and allow to stand for 30 minutes. I just use a tea towel.

P.S. have you noticed the theme of our kitchen's decor yet?

Bake for 20 minutes at 170 degrees celsius, till lightly browned. Allow to cool, then turn out and dust with icing sugar.

It's best that you don't tell people what's inside the cakes before they eat one. Give em a little suprise :)

Miniature Gugelhopfs

Makes 12

1 sachet (7g) active dry yeast

1/2 cup milk, warmed

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup sugar

60g butter, softened

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1/3 cup hazelnut spread

1. Pour the yeast into a bowl. Add your warm milk and stir in 2 tsps sugar and 2 tsps flour. Allow to sit for 15 minutes. Note: milk should be warm to the touch, but not hot. We don't want to denature our little yeasts.
2. Meanwhile, cream the butter and remaining sugar. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating after each one till mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla.
3. Add the yeast mixture and remaining flour in alternating batches to the butter/egg mixture, mixing on low till ingredients have just combined.
4. Grease and flour cake tin. Add 1 tbsp dough to each tin (or 1/3 dough if using a bundt or gugelhopf tin) and make a well in the middle of each. Fill well with 1 tsp hazelnut spread, then cover with another tbsp of dough. Cover and sit for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Bake for 20 minutes, or till lightly browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, before removing from tin. Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar.