Kugelhopf with chocolate glaze for Easter

The renovation of our house arrived to the final and most exciting stage. Day by day it becomes cosier and more home-like and suddenly I cannot stop my always-dreaming imagination. I see painted walls instead of the plastered surfaces, tiles instead of concrete, washbasin instead of water pipes and of course I can already see the kitchen. Sometimes my imagination is running so wild that I have to blink a few times when I enter the house to sense reality and not only see the pictures in my head.
Part of our orchard is still a construction site but I already want to start gardening: planting raspberries, mulberries, red currants and more fruit trees. I would like to prepare our kitchen garden or repaint our old wooden cabinets in the open air. Every time I start telling these things, Áron strokes my face and gently reminds me how many to-do’s we still have.
And he is right. I wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking whether we have put any plugs to the place I plan to put my desk. In the morning, while I am brushing my teeth I flip through the plans and I relieve when I see that we didn’t forget. During the day I go over and over again our to do’s telling myself aloud what to do next as if I murmured a prayer.
“We have ordered wall tiles, floor tiles are late, I have to make a phone call. Still have to decide about taps and washbasins. I have to let Zoli know, that he can build in doors after Easter. I have to call the chimney sweep regarding connection of the tile stove to the new chimney. When does Gergő come with the tinsmith? We have to decide about kitchen countertop. We have to ask for a quotation for switches and sockets….”
Life offers us help many times: we find a bunch of floor and wall tiles from the past that we can use and get two second-hand doors that perfectly fit. In unexpected moments ideas emerge from nothing how to reuse, recycle or remake things. The old wooden chest we found in the attic will become a bench to sit on in the hall. The green enamelled lampshade will fit perfectly into the food pantry. The wooden ladder that led to the attic will be cut, polished and used as cellar stairs. which flooring was made by Áron and friend using old bricks.
Sometimes I have the feeling that I have been running a marathon in the last 10 months, persistently, always concentrating on the next move and it is time for a last spurt. I need a clear head, inner peace and focused attention.
Something delicious can definitely help me in this process. For example a kugelhopf with a soft, airy dough and topped by a chocolate glaze. It will be perfect for breakfast at Easter or to the afternoon coffee. Or just any time we wish.
This recipe is originally my grandmother’s sister’s, but I have made same changes on it. I add some lemon zest and vanilla sugar to the dough, and mix in cocoa powder into one part. I feel that this nice kugelhopf calls for a wonderful shiny chocolate glaze, which nicely drizzles down the sides, especially because Áron’s name day is on Monday, and he is most probably the greatest chocolate fan in the whole world.
Dear Friends and Readers, I wish you a very happy Easter, time for relaxing, family and kugelhopf eating…!
With love,
Judit

Kugelhopf

Ingredients:
500 g plain flour
20 g fresh yeast
50 g powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
500 ml lukewarm milk
60 g melted butter
zest of a lemon
1 package of vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of Dutch cocoa powder
some butter and flour to grease and dust the mould

Chocolate glaze
100 ml milk
100 g dark chocolate
70 g powdered sugar
10 g butter

1. Pour 100 ml lukewarm milk into a cup (from the amount of milk that I set in the ingredient list), dissolve a teaspoon powdered sugar and the yeast in it. Cover it and let it rise a bit.
2. Sift flour into a big bowl alongside with the salt and the rest of the powdered sugar. Add lemon zest, egg yolks, yeasted milk and the rest of the milk. Using the dough hook of your kitchen mixer mix it properly but don’t worry, it will be a very soft dough!
3. Butter precisely a kugelhopf mould and dust with flour. Pour the half of the dough into it, and mix the rest with the cocoa powder. Pour over the white dough, cover it and let it proof for an hour, it will double its volume.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 200 ºC. Put your kugelhopf into the oven, and reduce heat to 180 ºC after 5 minutes and bake for further 40 percig minutes. When a cake tester comes out clean, without any streaks of batter, it is ready. Let it cool down.
5. For the chocolate glaze chop or grate dark chocolate. Add to a saucepan alongside with the milk and sugar. Cook it at reduced heat until it thickens. You can test it by put a few drops of the glaze on a cold plate. If it sets and doesn’t run, it is thick enough. Remove of your stove, add butter, stir it until it dissolves and is shiny and pour over your kugelhopf. The chocolate glaze will set in a couple of hours.