Pistachio, Apricot and Cardamom Kugelhopf

I’m hoping to start a new Christmas Day tradition with this year’s kugelhopf. A kugelhopf is a yeasted cake or a rich bread, whichever way you’d like to see it, that adorns pastry shop windows all over Alsace. It’s a traditional French Christmas bread, with a disputed history, made in earthen moulds. If you don’t have one, you could use a metal bundt pan mould instead, which offers better browning.

I’d bought an earthen kugelhopf mould from a tiny, crammed vintage shop in Montmartre. With access to top quality kugelhopfs all over Paris, the kugelhopf mould had been relegated to serving the purpose of decorative kitchen object for the past year. I used Christmas as the perfect excuse to make this humongous rich festive bread.

Traditionally, the kugelhopf is made with raisins that have been soaked overnight in cognac or armagnac. I simply plumped them in water. I also veered away from the norm a bit – I was quite intrigued by the recipe in Tartine Bread (USA | UK | India) which also added a mixture of apricots, pistachios, freshly ground cardamom and orange blossom water to the dough. 

To make a kugelhopf, you start with a brioche dough, then fold in the fruits and nuts, and finally proceed to shape and bake in a kugelhopf mould. You could use a yeasted brioche recipe that can be ready to use in a few hours, or make it the sourdough way which requires more planning and effort but yields better results.

Christmas Kugelhopf

A kugelhopf mould (USA | UK)
1.2kg brioche dough
70g raisins, soaked overnight
150g apricots, chopped
120g pistachios, toasted
1 tsp freshly ground cardamom
1 tbsp orange blossom water (USA | UK)
12-15 almonds

Soaking syrup:
150g sugar
150g water
2 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
Zest of 1 orange

1. Once you’ve mixed the brioche dough, fold in the remaining ingredients. Ferment the dough based on the brioche recipe.
2. Brush the kugelhopf mould with butter. Place an almond in each of the grooves at the bottom of the pan.
3. Proceed to shape the dough. Let it rise until 1.5 times in volume. Bake in a preheated oven at 175C for 35-40 minutes.
4. Mix all the ingredients of the soaking syrup in a pan and bring to a boil. Let it cool a little before brushing on top of the baked kugelhopf.
5. Dust with icing sugar. Slice and serve.