Festive Cherry Almond Kugelhopf Bread is soft and tender with a beautiful cherry aroma. While not too sweet, the tartness of the cherries pairs perfectly with the Powdered Sugar dusting.
I have the privilege of hosting Bread Bakers this month. For our theme, I chose bread inspired by Mother’s Day or Spring flowers. This Cherry Almond Kugelhopf Bread is inspired by both.
It’s no secret or disrespect when I say my mother didn’t love cooking. Her meals were very simple and she wasn’t much of a baker. One thing that she did do exceptionally well was to make pies. We had two cherry trees in our yard and they made the best cherry pies. Especially will a dollop of vanilla ice cream!
So I wanted to make sure that my bread represented our theme. Cherries definitely remind me of my mother and those cherry blossoms are nothing short of glorious this time of year.
Kugelhopf Bread is said to come from Vienna. Cherries and raisins are typical of this bread in the Alsace area. John doesn’t love raisins so I went all Dried Montgomery cherries. They were so plump after a short Cherry brandy bath that they held up well in this bread. The cherry brandy is evident spiking the crumb with its beautiful aroma.
Don’t have time to make it now? Pin it for later!
Festive Cherry Almond Kugelhopf Bread is soft and tender. It has a cherry aroma and while not sweet, the baked cherries give it a nice pop of sweet tartness.
5 hrPrep Time
25 minCook Time
5 hr, 25 Total Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup dried Montgomery Tart Cherries
- 1/4 cherry Brandy
- 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons rapid-rise or instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 6 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- It's recommended that a electric stand mixer be used for this bread.
- Microwave cherries and cherry brandy in a covered bowl for 1 minute. Set aside for 15 minutes. Drain cherries, reserving brandy.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whisk flour, yeast, and salt together.
- In a 4-cup measuring cup whisk milk, eggs, granulated sugar, and reserved brandy together until sugar has dissolved.
- Using the dough hook on the mixer, slowly add the milk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix until dough starts to form and no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Increase speed to medium-low and knead until dow pulls away from the sites of the bowl but sticks to the bottom, approximately 5 minutes. With the mixer running, add butter 1 tablespoon at a time until totally incorporated, about 4 minutes. Reduce the mixer to low, add cherries and mix until incorporated, approximately 1 minute. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
- Using your fingers or a dough scraper, fold the dough towards the center. Turn the bowl 90-degrees and fold again, repeat two more times. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 additional minutes. Repeat folding , cover dough and allow dough to rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
- Grease 12 cup nonstick Bundt pan and sprinkle the bottom with almonds. Press the dough down to deflate, then transfer to lightly floured counter. Using your hands press dough into an 8-inch circle.
- Press your fingers through the center to create a 2-inch hole. Gently put dough into the Bundt pan and lightly press into the pan. Cover and allow to rise until loaf is level, 1 to 2-1/2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until bread registers 190°F with an instant read thermometer. Let loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert loaf onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely, about 3 hours. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Notes
I used a 10-cup bundt pan but a 12-cup will work as well. Recipe based on Bread Illustrated by America's Test Kitchen. Prep time includes nonactive rise time.
I’m hoping you agree that this is indeed a very special bread and hope that you will stick around and check out some of the other great May bread recipes!
This month’s BreadBakers’ theme is Mother’s Day or May Day inspired bread, hosted by Julie at Hostess At Heart. Here’s what our creative bakers came up with.
- Almond Rose Bread by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Apricot Sweet Rolls by Cook’s Hideout
- Banana and Chocolate Chip Flower Cake by Sneha’s Recipe
- Beetroot Cinnamon Rolls by Herbivore Cucina
- Blueberry Muffin Cups with Warm Lemon Sauce by A Salad For All Seasons
- Cherry Almond Kugelhopf by Hostess At Heart
- Cheesy Pizza Roses by Food Lust People Love
- Flower Bread with Savoury Onion Filling by Sara’s Tasty Buds
- Lemon Poppyseed Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Orange Marmalade Rolls by Ambrosia
- Peynirli Cicek Pogaca/ Turkish Cheese Flower Bread by Gayathri’s Cook Spot
- Pogaca -Turkish Breakfast Bread by Mayuri’s Jikoni
- Pumpkin Lavender Coconut Biscuits by The Schizo Chef
- Sfoof by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Sunflower Crumb Muffins by Baking Sense
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.
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