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The kugelhopf, from Germany to Alsace including Poland

Kugelhopf, Riquewihr | Arnaud 25 / Public domain
Speciality Stanislas Leszczynski

What’s this?

A speciality from Alsace and Germany: a kind of fluted brioche with almonds, made in a special mould...

The recipe includes flour, eggs, butter, sugar, raisins.

The little history

Where does the kugelhopf come from? In German, kugel means "ball" and off "yeast" or "open", because people used to cook it in a mould with an "open half-ball" shape, to let the dough rising.

People ate it since the Middle Ages, in Austria, Flanders, Germany and Alsace.

The tradition says ex-king of Poland Stanislas (and duke of Lorraine) brought the recipe with him when he arrived in Nancy.

Chevriot, his cook, made him kugelhopfs. Stanislas ate them with a Malaga wine glass!

The court in Versailles loved them: Marie-Antoinette ate them each morning at breakfast.

Famous French cook Antonin Carême even popularized the recipe in Paris and talked about it in his book Le Pâtissier royal ("The Royal Pastrycook")...

What about moulds? Museum of Alsacian Traditional Art and Gingerbread, in Gertwiller, shows a collection of extraordinary moulds, with funny shapes: fleur-de-lis, baby Jesus, rabbit, hen, craw-fish, heart... 300 models, from the 18th to the 19th century!

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!