Baking Made Easy. Lorraine Pascale

      Almond, honey & orange

       Kugelhopf

      Kugelhopf, Gougelhopf and Gugelhupf are a few of the many spelling variations of this recipe from Alsace in eastern France. A cakelike bread, it is traditionally served as part of a Sunday breakfast feast, but is also wonderful eaten in the evening with a glass of ambrosial wine. Makes 1 loaf

      Vegetable oil, for oiling

      450g (16oz) strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

      110g (4oz) dried apricots, finely chopped (easiest to cut with scissors)

      250ml (9fl oz or 1 wine glass) builder’s tea or orange liqueur

      100g (3½oz) ground almonds

      1½ sachets of fast-action dried yeast (about 10g/1/3oz)

      1 tsp ground cinnamon

      2 tsp salt

      2 tbsp soft light brown sugar

      Grated zest of 2 large oranges

      180ml (6½fl oz) warm milk

      3 eggs, beaten

      160g (5½oz) butter, melted

      2 big squidges of honey Handful of whole skinless almonds

      Icing sugar, for sprinkling

      Equipment

      Large kugelhopf mould

      Oil the kugelhopf mould, then dust with flour and set aside.

      Put the apricots in a bowl, add the tea or orange liqueur and leave to stand for 30 minutes. Put the flour in another large bowl with the ground almonds, yeast, cinnamon, salt, sugar and orange zest. In a third bowl, mix together the milk, eggs, butter and honey.

      Add enough of the butter mix to the flour mixture to make a soft dough. The dough will be softer than most other doughs but it should not be too sticky. Knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand on a lightly floured work surface or for 5 minutes in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, then set aside.

      Drain the apricots and add them to the dough. Fold the dough over itself 3–4 times until the apricots are evenly dispersed throughout the dough.

      Place an almond into each ‘dip’ of the kugelhopf mould, then carefully make a hole in the middle of the dough and squish it gently into the prepared mould. Cover the top loosely with oiled clingfilm, making sure it is airtight. Leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size. This will take about 1 hour or so, depending on the warmth of the room.

      Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas Mark 6.

      Bake the kugelhopf in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until it is golden brown and comes out of the mould easily. Remove the bread from the mould, place on a baking tray and pop back into the oven for 5–10 minutes to brown up the base.

      Remove the bread from the oven and leave to cool. Once cooled right down, sprinkle the top with icing sugar and serve.

      Coffee & maple

       Panettone

      Panettone is an Italian bread usually made with fruit peel and traditionally eaten at Christmas. I wanted to make something a little away from the norm, so I came up with this tasty gem which uses a different mix of flavours. Makes 1 large panettone

      560g (1¼lb) strong white bread flour

      ½ tsp salt

      1½ sachets of fast-action dried yeast (about 10g/1/3oz)

      200ml (7fl oz) warm milk

      3 eggs

      2 egg yolks

      Seeds of 1 vanilla pod or 2 drops of vanilla extract

      100ml (4fl oz) maple syrup, plus extra for drizzling

      4 tbsp coffee essence or

      1 tbsp coffee powder diluted in the milk mentioned above

      200g (7oz) butter, melted

      Eggwash

      1 egg

      1 tbsp milk

      Equipment

      18cm (7in) deep loose-bottomed cake tin

      Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas Mark 6. Line the sides of the cake tin with baking paper, so it sticks up a good 10cm (4in) above the top of the tin.

      Put flour, salt, yeast, milk, eggs, yolks, vanilla, maple syrup, coffee and butter in a large bowl and stir well to combine. Keep mixing the dough for 10 minutes by hand (it is usually too sticky for the hand at first so use a wooden spoon and keep mixing), or for 5 minutes if using an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. The dough will be very very sticky, almost like a cake batter. This is what gives the panettone its wonderful spongy texture.

      Tip the dough into the prepared cake tin and lay a tea towel gently over the top. Leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the mixture has almost risen to the top of the tin.

      For the eggwash, mix the egg and milk together in a bowl. Once the dough has almost doubled in size, brush the top of the panettone with the eggwash, then make a cross in the top with a very sharp knife. Bake in the oven for