Facts About Gugelhupf
A Gugelhupf is a yeast based cake, traditionally baked in a distinctive circular Bundt mold. It is popular in a wide region of Central Europe particularly in Alsace including southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland and Alsace. It is closely related to the Christmas cake in Italy known as the pandoro and to the American bundt cake. In the cuisine of the Pennsylvania Dutch it's called Deitscher Kuche.
In late Medieval Austria, a Gugelhupf was served at major community events such as weddings, and was decorated with flowers, leaves, candles, and seasonal fruits. The name persisted through the Austro-Hungarian Empire, eventually becoming standardized in Viennese cookbooks as a refined, rich cake, flavored with rosewater and almond. Many regional variations exist, testifying to the widespread popularity of the Gugelhupf tradition. Several narratives claim the origin of the cake in Roman times with a spurious claim relating even further back to the Three Wise Men. The cake was popularized as a prestige pastry by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and was popularized in France by Marie-Antoinette.
The Gugelhupf was the sweet chosen to represent Austria in the Café Europe initiative of the Austrian presidency of the European Union, on Europe Day 2006.
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