Chocolate Yeast Kugelhopf

Monday Morning Cooking Club Recipe Video Series: Number Five

A gorgeous golden cake with a slightly crusty sugary top and a soft slightly bready inside swirled with gooey chocolate. Perfect for afternoon tea, even better served warm for breakfast.

It’s too good to believe – just a matter of getting your ingredients ready and following the recipe (with the help of our video) step by step. You will be so delighted with the result! From the kitchen of Shereen Aaron.

Chocolate Yeast Kugelhopf

Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes
Course Sweet Things
Cuisine Jewish
Servings 12 serves

Ingredients
  

  • 185 ml milk (3/4 cup)
  • 1 sachet active dried yeast (7 g/ 2 1/4 teaspoons)
  • 80 grams caster (superfine) sugat (1/3 cup) plus extra, for sprinkling
  • 450 grams bread flour (3 cups)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 115 grams butter (unsalted) (1 stick)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg lightly beaten, for egg wash

Filling

  • 300 grams best quality dark chocolate chopped
  • 60 grams butter (unsalted)
  • 115 grams caster (superfine) sugat
  • 25 grams cocoa powder (1/4 cup)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions
 

  • You will need a large angel (chiffon) cake tin with a removable base. Carefully line the side, base and funnel with baking paper.
  • Gently warm ¼ cup of the milk. Sprinkle with the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Allow to stand for 5 minutes to allow it to froth. Add 3 teaspoons of the flour and stir. Allow to stand for 15 - 20 minutes or until frothy and thick.
  • Mix the remaining flour and sugar together with the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Warm the remaining milk and melt the butter. Beat the eggs with the vanilla. Add these and the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and knead with the dough hook for 10 minutes. You may need to add extra flour but do so a spoon at time, kneading after each addition. You will have a very sticky dough that just comes away from the side of the bowl.
  • Put the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel. Put the bowl in a warm place and allow it to rise until doubled in size. This will take at least 2 hours.
  • Once the dough has risen, make the filling. Place the filling ingredients in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (or use a double boiler) and melt, stirring until smooth.
  • Cut the dough in half. Roll out to a large rectangle (30 x 45 cm) and carefully spread half the filling mixture on the surface from edge to edge. Roll up the dough to make a large snake and place it into your prepared tin, curling around the funnel, seam side up. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Place it on top of the first roll, seam side down.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place until at least doubled in size, about 1 hour. It will rise almost to the edge of the tin. Brush gently with the egg wash and sprinkle with the extra sugar.
  • Preheat the oven to 170°C.
  • Bake the kugelhopf for 40 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown on top. If not eating immediately, allow to cool out of the tin but with the baking paper still attached. Best eaten on the day of baking or reheated the next day. Freezes well for up to 3 months.
 

 

27 Comments

  1. Katie

    I visited Wellington Cake shop in Bondi and I am now hooked on this cake. I thought this recipe resembled the Wellington version closest. This recipe delivers a much cakier dough, but the ganache is almost spot on (I’m going to add a little cream next time to smooth it out). The Cake was a little dry. Next attempt I’m going to try layering in cold butter (a little more than what’s called for) to try to get a flakier, moister cake. It might be an epic fail presentation wise, but it will still be delicious.

    1. Sonya Gorney

      Hi Katie
      My family and I became hooked on the Wellington Street chocolate yeast kugelhopf over 30 years ago. I have been told by the shop that their recipe has no dairy products so it can be eaten with a meat dish on a Friday night. The owners are Hungarian Jews. The recipe also has no eggs. The Feast Goes On by the Monday Morning Cooking Club has two kugelhopf recipes both with eggs and milk.This gives a cakier dough. I make a chocolate babke that won me The Jewish Cake Bake off award for 2012.It uses no dairy or eggs. I can make a chocolate kugelhopf from this recipe. It is delicious but the Wellington Street signature cake is still flakier. I describe their cake as a cross between a babke and a croissant. I am always asked to bring my chocolate kugelhopf to parties. The ultimate complement came from a friend who said he liked my version than the cardboard version I was trying to prefect.

      1. Chaz

        Hi Sonya, would you mind sharing your version of the recipe or the babka recipe? If not, suggestion on how I can make variation to the recipe here to achieve a less cakey result.
        I love chocolate Kugelhopf and here in Melbourne, we get them from the Monarch cake shop in Acland St, St Kilda.
        I’m hooked and would love to try making one.

        1. Judy

          I now live in Melbourne, used to live in Sydney. AFAIC, it is impossible to find good ready made kugelhopf in Melbourne. (Arcadia used to have a reasonably good one, but they are gone) Sorry, I don’t like Monarch’s either. Acland St is full of cakes that are trying to imitate Hungarian cakes (names misspelled and nothing like the original) As an example, there is a cake called Dobos (spelled Dobosh in Acland St) which meant to have a toffee topping. The Acland St version does not. https://dailynewshungary.com/real-dobos-cake-conquered-world/ I once spied in the window of Monarch a roulade with toffee on the outside – that resembled Dobos more than the cake they called Dobosh. I went in to ask who made it. Turns out they had a Hungarian pastry cook, who wanted to make the proper Dobos, but they didn’t want to “confuse” the customers by changing what they now called Dobosh, so he had to compromise and make it into a roulade. It was lovely (he didn’t last long) tasted like Dobos is supposed to.
          Anyway, I have to make my own kugelhopf every year (it is Hungarian tradition to break the fast with it) I now have it perfected after lots of trial and error. My dough is very similar to brioche dough, with lots of butter. I make it in a special kugelhopf (fluted) tin and I only make one roll, not two

          1. roselyn schenkel

            You should really try Aviv Cake Shop in Glen Huntly Rd Elsternwick for the best Chocolate kugelhopf. When my son got married he didn’t want me to bake the wedding cake, instead
            insisted a stack of Aviv Kugeljoph cakes served with Mersina ice cream. Everyone went crazy for it. Roselyn

          2. Lisa Goldberg

            Yes we know that cake – it is delicious! Love the wedding cake idea, sounds wonderful.

        2. Sonya Gorney

          Chaz sorry for the late response. This recipe make 1 kugelof cake (or 2 babkas). In a large bowl, make the dough by mixing 500g plain flour, 90g white sugar, 2x 7g dry yeast packets then add 1/2 cup oil ( vegetable or canola) and 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water. Knead on the bench into a sticky dough. Spray a bowl with oil and leave to rise covered for 45 mins. In the meantime make the filling.The MMCC filling is excellent but just half it for one kugelof. Punch down the dough and roll into a large rectangle. Spread filling and roll up into a sausage. It time permits, cover and allow to rise. Otherwise , brush with oil and bake immediately for 50 minutes at 180C. If browning on top cover with foil during the baking.Leave in tin for 10 minutes and then turn on rack..When cool dust with icing sugar.

      2. Bela

        Hi Sonja, I am very interested in making a chocolate kuglof with no dairy or eggs. The two reasons are because my daughter is vegan and although I live in Tasmania I never miss a chance to visit the Wellington Cake shop when visiting my family in Sydney. It would be fantastic to get a few clues from you about how to make the egg and dairy free award winning babke you talked about. Anyway, I found this discussion interesting and will search a bit more myself.

        1. Sonya Gorney

          Hi Bela sorry for the late response but please see my chocolate kuglof recipe with no dairy or eggs in this chat to Chaz (18/9/21)

      3. Yvette

        I have just now bought a chocolate kugelof from Wellington St Cake shop in Bondi Rd Bondi NSW. They tell me they’ve been there for 40 years and they use butter in the chocolate kugelof.

        1. Sonya Gorney

          Sorry for a late response. Thank you Yvette for correcting me. I went recently to Wellington St Cake shop and Marion, the owners’ daughter said the chocolate kugelof has lots of butter. They make the mini ones so people can watch their wastelines I have been told it still has no eggs.

  2. Cynthia

    I made the kugelhopf yesterday and it came out more than amazing! It reminded me of the cakes my grandma(who is Hongarian) used to make when I was a child. I reduced the sugar amount by 20% and used 60% dark chocolate. It was still sweet and delicious. Can’t stop eating it now. Thank you for sharing this recipe and looking forward to trying out more of them.

  3. Robert

    I made the Kugelhopf last week and it turned out perfectly. I am not an experienced home baker, but this was so easy to make – seeing the dough rise high out of the pan after two hours already was a feast for your eyes. I used the Lighthouse bread and pizza flour, and used a blend of 200g x 70% and 100g x 40% chocolate. As I had a Bundt pan I buttered and dusted it with caster sugar. In preparing the chocolate filling, it seemed a bit gritty at first (not sure how much the sugar needed to dissolve into it) but once it was baked, the filling was smooth and tasty. The cake texture was perfectly light (a cross between a brioche and a panettone) with a perfect crusty top, and it looked as sensational as it tasted. I did a 50 km two stops round trip to share a still warm Kugelhopf with family and it was a hit all round.

    So impressed that I bought three copies of your first book as gifts (well two as gifts). I will print the recipe for the Kugelhopf and include it inside the front cover.

    Of course Leslie from Wellington still rules supreme having made our wedding cake 25 years ago and nothing can ever match the magic he created for us back then.

    But the passion I see from your group in keeping this and other wonderful recipes fresh in our minds is wonderful. I am Australian born from Hungarian parents and have seen the fire dwindle from what it was 30 years ago, so I thank you now for fanning the flames. Well done!

    1. Lisa Goldberg

      Robert – what a wonderful message from you! Apologies for taking so long to respond. Your message has made us all very happy…yes, we agree the Wellington kugelhopf is one of a kind! How wonderful that you had such great success with yours. Being of Hungarian stock, I wonder if you have tried the poppyseed and walnut beigli from our first book? They are truly magnificent! And next for you is the zserbo torte….and then in our third book we will have a fladen, layered pastry with poppyseed, walnut and apple. Hungarian masterpieces! Please do keep in touch and continue to share what you are cooking. We will post your comment on Facebook in the mean time – thanks for taking the time to let us know. Cheers, Lisa

      1. Robert Gertner

        Thanks Lisa – I have grown up with beigli and have now been making them in recent years – everyone wants the walnut but I love the poppyseed. I’ve made zserbo once and even tried making flodni (fladen). It looked magnificent but the middle pastry layers did not cook through and so I was too afraid to serve it. I will try it again but will prebake the middle layers. Certainly I will look at the recipe in your upcoming book. My mother recently gave me two 720g jars of sour cherries and to my delight your book had a recipe which called for 720g of sour cherries – so I made the Cherry, Almond and Chocolate Cake and it was absolutely delicious, moist yet still something fulsome to bite into – my compliments to Agi Adler! … so we turned a few pages in the book and my wife Andrea has twice prepared the Mediterranean Fish Stew with Couscous – another keeper and compliments to Barbara Cohen. I admire what you are all doing chronicling favourite recipes from families to be passed on to the next generation – I am also slowly piecing together a few of my mother’s recipes as well – a very satisfying task. I wish you all continued success – looks like you are really having fun! Best wishes Bob.

  4. Asher

    Hi, can you please advise if the dough can be freezed after adding the filling (after step 7) and defrosted before baking? Thank you

    1. Lisa Goldberg

      hi Asher,
      None of us have actually done it for this recipe but we don’t see why not. We fill and freeze cinnamon buns and both have similar concepts. The only risk is that it will over-rise in the freezer before it has time to freeze. Perhaps you should skip the second rise and put it in the freezer as soon as you have got it in the tin. Defrost and bring to room temperature before baking (it will take a few hours) and then allow it to rise for a further 30 minutes before baking (if it doesn’t look like it has risen enough). Happy baking, and please let us know how it goes.
      Cheers,
      Lisa

  5. Rose

    I have been trying to find out where the origins of this cake are from. I have a recipe I stole from a friend’s hand written collection that just read kugelhopf but it isn’t like the cake kugelhopfs I had eaten in shops it is so much better I’ve been wanting to know the recipes origins so thank you for sharing!
    The version I have made has ground hazelnuts in it.
    Was this made in other countries or is it just Hungarian traditionally?

  6. Peter Stark

    My mother, Sara Stark (nee Weber) made the best kugloff in the world. I’ve never seen it replicated. It had a very light dough interior with the chocolate being a mixture of cocoa, cinnamon, and crystal sugar. When the kugloff had baked, the chocolate would be thick and carmelized around the bottom of the slice. Higher, there would be chocolate, too, but surrounded by the lightest of pastry (something like a croissant pastry). If anyone has succeeded in making a kugloff like this, please let me know. Thank you.

  7. Gugelhupf

    Thankx its very help full.Great posts that we can sink our teeth into and really go to work.

  8. Rachel

    Hi there,

    I was just wondering when you have put the kugelhof in the freezer (made) did it come out fresh once thawed?
    I’m planning on making it next week (a few days before a small party)
    When would you suggest taking it out of the freezer and what temperature setting should I put it into the oven?
    Many thanks

  9. Lynn Garay

    Can’t wait to try this recipe. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions for the best type of chocolate to use for the filling. Thank you!

  10. Lynn Garay

    Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I have been trying to replicate a chocolate Kugelhopf from a small Hungarian Pastry Shop in NY (Andre’s) for years and this comes closest to it. However, I am not having success with the exterior of the cake. I am using a traditional Kugelhopf pan and was wondering if you have any advice on how I can get a crispier exterior. This last version I made, the interior of the cake was perfect but the exterior had a spongy feel. Thank you for your help!

    1. Sonya Gorney

      Hi Lynn. I went to Andres in NY in 2018 and tried their chocolate yeast kugelhopf. This cake is identical to the Wellington St Cake shops’ Kuglof in Sydney where I live.The only thing was I found that the Andres chocolate filling was gritty. I think from the sugar. The MMCC chocolate filling is perfect. I have also been trying to replicate this cake for years. I thought to get a flaky exterior was to laminate the dough with butter. This is like making croissants but then spreading the rolled out dough with chocolate and putting it in the kugel tin. The result has been a crispy exterior but the interior was a cake that is too buttery. Any tips from kuglof experts!

  11. Eva

    17o in the oven doesn’t work,my dough was beautiful but didn’t bake enough!?

    1. Lisa Goldberg

      Sorry to hear. Every oven is different so it is hard to say what the issue might be. Did it rise well and not brown?was it war? Perhaps you could cook it on 180 c next time and start watching after 30 mins?

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