Kugelhopf

Lately I have been trying hard to make time for my passion for baking, and I dusted off my cookbooks and found Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.
The book opened up on Kugelhopf, and I remembered I have been meaning to try it long ago.

From Wikipedia: "A Gugelhupf or Kugelhupf is a southern German, Austrian, Swiss and Alsatian term for a type of cake. As with the Jewish dish kugel, the name "Gugelhupf" is related to the Middle High German word Kugel meaning "ball" or "globe". In Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia, it is called kuglof, in the Czech Republic it is called bábovka, and in Poland it is called babka. In Republic of Macedonia the cake is known as "куглоф".

In the book, and in many other references it is spelled Kugelhopf, but to say the least, I'd say pronunciation is quite irrelevant, what's relevant is how delicious the cake is, and well loved across the globe.

So, here we are, it took a whole morning, and I was finished late in the afternoon. Simple recipe, just so many steps for the dough to properly rise, but oh so well worth it. I have followed the recipe religiously, and it was a major success. Kids couldn't wait to try it, and we are now down to just a few crumbs, just enough to accompany my morning coffee.

The crust is not hard at all, but rather crunchy in a soft way, really delicious. I would love to add a zest of orange next time, and perhaps soak the raisins in rum. Definitely a recipe I am sticking with, thank you Dorie!

Chocolate Cream Pie

For upcoming Holidays, Martha Stewart has assembled a really nice magazine/publication "Holiday Sweets", and I got stuck on the page with this delicious Chocolate cream pie. I am so happy with the results, it's simple, elegant, and the cream is delicious. I am not normally a big fan of the meringue, but it just goes so well, and adds that magic touch.
The magazine is filled with beautiful creations, and I can't wait to try some more. It's very inspiring!
I had a little trouble with the lighting, so my pictures don't give it proper justice, you should see Martha's! Also, I have used regular wafers, and added melted chocolate to the crumb, the recipe calls for chocolate wafers, and they are much more dark, making the pie even better looking.