Kuglóf

Ingredients

• 14⅛ ozflourplain, for the batter; a little extra for dusting the tin
• 5¼ ozbuttersoft, creamed; extra for greasing the tin
• 7 ozsugarbeaten with the butter
• 4eggused whole or separated
• ¾ cupmilklukewarm, loosens the batter or activates the yeast
• 1vanilla sugarone sachet, for flavour
• 1baking powderone sachet, mixed with the flour (batter version)
• 1 ozYeastfresh or instant, for the yeast dough version (optional)
• 14⅛ ozstrawberrieshulled, diced, tossed in a little flour and folded in
• 1lemonzest only
• 1 pinchsaltfor the dough or the beaten egg whites
• 1¾ ozraisinsfolded in at the end, soaked if desired (optional)
• icing sugarfor dusting before serving or for a glaze
• 3½ ozAlmondsground in the batter or flaked to line the tin (optional)
• 3⅓ tbsprumfor soaking the raisins (optional)

Method

1. Grease the kuglóf tin generously with butter and dust it with flour; if you like, line it with flaked almonds instead. Heat the oven to 355 °F, top and bottom heat.
2. For the yeast version, stir the yeast with a little of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and leave it until the mixture foams and rises.
3. Beat the soft butter with the sugar and vanilla sugar until pale and fluffy, then work in the egg yolks — or the whole eggs — one at a time.
4. Add the lemon zest and salt, then stir in the flour, either mixed with the baking powder or together with the yeast starter, alternating with the milk, until you have a smooth batter. If you're working with yeast dough, knead it for 5–6 minutes, cover it and leave it somewhere warm until doubled in size.
5. If you separated the eggs, whisk the whites with a pinch of salt to stiff peaks and fold them gently into the mixture.
6. Hull and finely dice the strawberries, toss them in a little flour and fold them through carefully; if you want raisins as well, stir them in last — soaked in rum and well drained, if you like.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin, smooth the top and bake on the lower shelf for 40–60 minutes, until golden brown. Test with a skewer to make sure the middle is done.
8. Let the kuglóf rest in the tin for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack and leave it to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar just before serving, or cover it with a glaze.

Tips and variations

Instead of the quick baking-powder batter you can make a yeast dough with a proper rising time — the crumb comes out finer and lighter. Raisins can take the place of the strawberries, soaked in rum beforehand if you fancy; ground almonds in the batter make it even moister. The fat is flexible too: butter, margarine, or vegetable oil with yoghurt and sparkling mineral water. For a filled version, roll the dough out, scatter it with diced apple and cinnamon, roll it up and lay it in the tin. No kuglóf tin? A plain round cake tin does the job. Serve it either the classic way with icing sugar, or with a glaze of icing sugar and apple juice topped with marzipan blossoms, or a chocolate glaze — always once the cake is completely cold.