I love it when TWD challenges use equipment I don't already have because it gives me an excuse to buy a new pan or baking gadgets. The thing is, even if I wanted to buy a Kugelhopf pan, I'm pretty sure the stores around me don't carry one. I'm lucky if they carry stuff other than Wilton or Baker's Secret sometimes! Luckily, I had the time last weekend because the initial rise time was nowhere near 1.5 hours... it was more like 4 hours! Waiting for this thing to rise reminded me of when we used to take family trips and my brother and I would constantly ask if we were there yet.. except in this case, I was wondering, has this finally doubled in size yet.
The KA was making some pretty weird noises during the kneading process. I didn't even end up using the medium high speed and stopped the machine before the recommended times. If I ever broke the KA, I would probably cry! Instead of boiling water for the raisins, I just microwaved them in a cup with a splash of water to save time and clean up. I have a love-hate relationship with raisins... love them in oatmeal cookies and bread, not too crazy about them in quick breads and muffins. I think putting the Kugelhopf in the fridge was a bad decision because the dough never ended up rising as nicely as it did initally (and I was so proud when I saw it so puffy even though it took a long time). I had to put the pan on top of the heater in my room to get it to rise... 4 hours later it rose, well sort of. I was going turn the oven to 200F then off and throw the dough in there, but I wanted to keep it covered with saran wrap and a towel so it wouldn't dry out. After that foam fire I had last year in the oven, I wasn't going to leave plastic wrap and a towel into the oven even if it was shut off. A fellow TWDer suggested I put the pan ontop of the stove so I put the pan ontop of the toaster oven when I was warming up my bagel. The dough finally rose (8+ hours + refrigeration later)! It also solved my drying out issue and I didn't have to put things that don't belong in the oven, in the oven.
Overall, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would considering all the time put into it. I guess that's not too suprising considering I don't really like croissants and these were croissant-tasting to me. I find croissants too flaky and buttery.. the very reason why people actually them.. haha. I'm glad this recipe was chosen though because it was quite the baking experience! I hope I can find my charger soon because taking these pics took forever!
Thanks to Yolanda of The all-purpose girl for choosing this recipe, which can be found on her blog and in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my Home to Yours. Don't forget to checkout the TWD Blogroll!
