Kugelhopf Pan
by Swift

A Gugelhupf or Kugelhopf 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, Serbia and western Slovenia it is called kuglof, in central and eastern Slovenia it is called kugluh, in the Czech Republic and Slovakia it is called bábovka, and in Poland it is called babka. In Republic of Macedonia the cake is known as "куглоф". In Upper Austrian dialect it is also called "Wacker" or "Wacka".

Kugelhupf is a cake, derived from the Groninger Poffert, and has a distinctive ring shape or the shape of a torus. It is usually eaten with coffee, at coffee breaks.

Kugelhupf consists of a soft yeast dough which contains raisins, almonds and Kirschwasser cherry brandy. Some also contain candied fruits and nuts. Some regional varieties (Czech, Hungarian and Slovenian) are also filled, often with a layer of sweetened ground poppy seeds.

It is baked in a special circular pan with a central tube, originally made of enamelled pottery. Similar pans are used for making Bundt cakes, a cake baking pan shape in the US derived from the Gugelhupf.

The Kugelhupf was the sweet chosen to represent Austria in the Café Europe initiative of the Austrian presidency of the European Union, on Europe Day 2006.