MINI KUGELHOPFS

Preparation 20 minutes, plus rising Cooking 25 minutes Makes 4 Versions of this yeasted celebration cake can be found across central Europe, including southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland.

15g fresh or 7g dried yeast 90ml whole milk, heated until lukewarm 300g plain flour 40g caster sugar 140g eggs (about 2½ large eggs), lightly beaten 200g soft butter, diced, plus extra for greasing 80g good candied peel icing sugar, for dusting

1 Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in the bowl of a food mixer. Stir in 100g flour. Cover and leave in a warm place for an hour. 2 Add the sugar, eggs, the remaining flour and 1 tsp salt. Knead the dough using the dough hook attachment – 2 minutes at the lowest speed, then 5-7 minutes on medium speed – until the dough is stretchy and elastic. With the machine still running, add the butter, piece by piece, until it is fully incorporated and very smooth and soft. Mix in the candied peel. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel. Leave to rise for 1 hour. 3 Liberally grease four 10cm kugelhopf tins. Divide the dough between the tins – it will be very soft. Cover and leave the dough to rise again for about an hour until it has doubled in size and almost reaches the top of the moulds. 4 Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan oven) gas mark 6. Bake the kugelhopfs for 20-25 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in their tins for 10 minutes, then remove and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar before serving.