A cake that is so simple but so good, this gugelhupf is a yeast leavened cake, subtly flavored, and the perfect coffee partner.
What is Gugelhupf?
Gugelhupf is a simple German yeasted cake baked in a bundt cake form. Traditionally the baking pan is glass and a bit taller than metal American bundt cake pans but both will work for this recipe! It is subtly flavored with lemon zest but doesn’t have an overwhelming lemon flavor and is studded with dried fruit.
What dried fruit should I add?
This yeast leavened cake usually has raisins or dried currants but here I have used dried tart cherries and dried cranberries! Any small dried fruit will work – you can also chop any larger fruit such as dried plums.
Which baking yeast is best?
No type of yeast is better than another. This recipe uses instant dried yeast but you could also use active dry yeast. In Germany this is often made with fresh yeast and the amount of yeast would be closer to 30 grams if using fresh.
How to reheat a yeast cake?
It’s no secret that a yeast leavened cake can go stale faster than a sponge cake. So I made it my personal mission to figure out how to reheat/freshen the cake after a couple of days. Here’s what you do: add a teaspoon of butter into a pan and heat on medium heat until melted and starting to bubble. Lay the slice of bundt cake into the pan it should sizzle slightly. Leave it for a minute or two until it starts to brown and then flip it over until it browns on the second side. Eat it immediately, like straight out of the pan, or plate it and top with whipped cream.
Additional Recipes to try:
- Marmorkuchen – German Marble Bundt Cake
- Kirschkuchen – Cherry Coffee Cake
- Cranberry Orange Gugelhupf with orange glaze
Tips for making Gugelhupf
- Don’t over knead the dough. It should be kneaded slightly but it can still be very sticky and not pass the window pane test. This is what will allow it to have the soft crumb of a sponge cake rather than that of a bread.
- Grease the bundt or gugelhupf pan generously with butter, if you use a baking spray, only spray it right before adding in the dough as it will run to the bottom of the pan if you add it in too early.
- Check in on the cake as it rises, it should double in size but not more than that. If it over proofs it will rise and then crash in the oven.
Ingredients
- AP Flour: All purpose flour is what most people consider to be “normal” flour it can be bleached or unbleached.
- Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar is white standard sugar and adds slight sweetness to the gugelhupf.
- Yeast: Instant dry yeast is used for this German yeast cake but Active dry yeast will work as well.
- Milk: Whole or Skim Milk will work for this recipe but whole milk adds a little extra richness and flavor.
- Butter: The butter should be soft in order to easily knead into the dough. There is a lot of butter in this cake to keeps it’s texture and moisture.
- Eggs: Two standard large eggs are used in this cake to give it structure.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract works with the sugar and lemon zest to give this bundt cake subtle flavor.
- Lemon Zest: Lemon zest adds flavor and brightness to the cake.
- Dried Fruit: Traditionally this cake is made with dried currants or raisins but I have used a combination of dried tart cherries and cranberries to give the cake a little extra punch.
How to make German Yeast Cake?
Prepare the dried fruit
- Pour your dried fruit of choice into a medium heat safe bowl.
- Pour enough hot water (it doesn’t need to be boiling) over the fruit to cover the fruit and let it sit while you prepare the dough.
Make the dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add in the flour, sugar, and yeast. Whisk the dry ingredients to combine.
- Add in the eggs, butter, warm milk, vanilla, and lemon zest.
- Use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough for about 10 minutes on medium low speed to fully combine all ingredients.
- Drain the steeping dried fruit and pour the fruit into the mixing bowl with the yeasted dough.
- Use the dough hook to briefly knead the fruit into the dough until it is evenly distributed.
- Grease a bundt or gugelhupf pan with butter by brushing softened butter onto every surface of the interior of the pan.
- Scoop the soft and sticky dough out of the mixing bowl and evenly distribute it around the pan. Cover the pan and leave somewhere warm (not hot!) to proof.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center of the oven.
Proof and Bake
- The dough should proof for about 45 minutes (maybe a little more or a little less depending on the temperature of your room and ingredients). The dough should have doubled in size.
- Once proofed and the oven has preheated, place the pan into the oven and bake for 35-45 until the top is golden brown.
- Rotate the cake after 25 minutes to allow it to bake and brown evenly.
- Once the surface is golden brown, remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes have passed, place a second cooling rack upside down onto the top of the bundt pan.
- Hold onto both cooling racks, sandwiching the bundt pan in between and quickly flip so that the bundt pan is now right side up.
- Remove the top cooling rack and give the bundt pan with the bottom cooling rack, a couple of firm taps onto the counter. You will feel the cake release.
- Remove the bundt pan and leave the gugelhupf to cool fully before dusting with powdered sugar and serving.
Gugelhupf
Equipment
- Bundt or Gugelhupf Pan
Ingredients
Dough
- 200 grams dried cranberries or dried cherries, raisins, or dried currants
- 425 grams ap flour
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 12 grams instant yeast
- 175 milliliters whole milk luke warm
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 200 grams butter softened plus extra for lining the pan
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 lemon zested
- 50 grams powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
Prepare the dried fruit
- Pour your dried fruit of choice into a medium heat safe bowl.
- Pour enough hot water (it doesn't need to be boiling) over the fruit to cover the fruit and let it sit while you prepare the dough.
Make the dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add in the flour, sugar, and yeast. Whisk the dry ingredients to combine.
- Add in the eggs, butter, warm milk, vanilla, and lemon zest.
- Use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough for about 10 minutes on medium low speed to fully combine all ingredients.
- Drain the steeping dried fruit and pour the fruit into the mixing bowl with the yeasted dough.
- Use the dough hook to briefly knead the fruit into the dough until it is evenly distributed.
- Grease a bundt or gugelhupf pan with butter by brushing softened butter onto every surface of the interior of the pan.
- Scoop the soft and sticky dough out of the mixing bowl and evenly distribute it around the pan. Cover the pan and leave somewhere warm (not hot!) to proof.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center of the oven.
Proof and Bake
- The dough should proof for about 45 minutes (maybe a little more or a little less depending on the temperature of your room and ingredients). The dough should have doubled in size.
- Once proofed and the oven has preheated, place the pan into the oven and bake for 35-45 until the top is golden brown.
- Rotate the cake after 25 minutes to allow it to bake and brown evenly.
- Once the surface is golden brown, remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes have passed, place a second cooling rack upside down onto the top of the bundt pan.
- Hold onto both cooling racks, sandwiching the bundt pan in between and quickly flip so that the bundt pan is now right side up.
- Remove the top cooling rack and give the bundt pan with the bottom cooling rack, a couple of firm taps onto the counter. You will feel the cake release.
- Remove the bundt pan and leave the gugelhupf to cool fully before dusting with powdered sugar and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Have never tried to bake a cake with yeast…it’s really interesting and something new for me…cake looks yumm…shall definitely bake this weekend….thank you for this lovely recipe….happy baking!
Yay! Yes it’s definitely different from traditional American cakes but I hope you love it!
I’m going to have a go at modifying this for sourdough, using 100g of starter. As it’s 1:1 water to flour, I’ll just reduce the wet and dry by 50g each. I’ll let you know if it’s successful 😍
Ooh I can’t wait to hear how it turns out!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Just made the Gugelhupf ( the German yeast cake) it turned out just great. Large one for the two of us. Have to plan to save this. Wish I could send you a pic. Loving it.
Aww yay! That makes me so so happy! You can always cut the extra into slices, wrap them up and freeze them. Then to warm them up, defrost in the microwave or fridge and butter both sides and toast in a pan!
Which size of a pan should I use for this recipe?
Hi Karolina! Sorry for the delay – usually this cake will work with any size of standard bundt pan! If the pan is larger the cake will just be a little shorter.
Really appreciate all your amazing recipes!! This was yet another hit, thank you!