Enjoy Easter with this quick and easy to make Gugelhupf. Whether you’ve been invited to an Easter brunch or are having a celebration in your own home, this cake is the perfect solution, since it won’t require you to expend a lot of extra time or energy. Mixing the dough takes about 10 minutes – and your oven will do the rest for you.
This version is made of a sponge mixture infused with some German egg liqueur (similar to eggnog), which gives it a fluffy and moist texture and keeps the whole cake fresh for a couple of days. You can bake it in advance, so that you will have more time to get ready for your festivities.
Normally, a typical Gugelhupf is prepared with yeast dough. While yeasted Easter doughs like Italian Easter egg bread and Russian kulich are sweet and delicious for the spring holiday, sometimes I just don’t have the patience to work with yeast. It is more sensitive than sponge and you have to invest more time to prepare the cake.
That’s why I prefer this alternative. You won’t need a long list of ingredients, and if the egg liqueur is not your taste, you can switch to orange juice instead to give it a fresh and fruity flavor.
In this recipe, the egg liqueur is a nice addition because it’s a popular flavor for Easter treats, and it helps to preserve the cake’s moist, luscious texture.
Later in the year, a bundt cake like this can easily be turned into a fine Christmas cake instead, flavored with spices like cinnamon or aniseed and mixed with raisins or candied fruits.
I kept this Easter version of the recipe simple, but you can also mix in some chocolate chips, almonds or cherries if you like.
This recipe requires use of a bundt cake pan.
Looking for a less traditional types of bread to make this year for Easter? Try this chocolate banana yeast loaf.
The Recipe
- 4 eggs
- 4 oz sugar
- 7 fluid oz vegetable oil
- 7 fluid oz egg liqueur
- 11 oz plain flour
- 1/2 oz baking powder
- 3 1/2 oz Powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp Lemon juice
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease the baking tin.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar until thick and creamy.
- Gradually add the oil and egg liqueur.
- Stir in the flour and baking powder.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin.
- Bake at 360°F in the lower part of the oven for 45 minutes.
- When the cake has cooled down, you can mix the powdered sugar with lemon juice and coat the cake if you like.
Photos by Nina-Kristin Isensee, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details.
About Nina-Kristin Isensee
Nina lives in Iserlohn, Germany and holds an MA in Art History (Medieval and Renaissance Studies). She is currently working as a freelance writer in various fields. She enjoys travel, photography, cooking, and baking. Nina tries to cook from scratch every day when she has the time and enjoys trying out new spices and ingredients, as well as surprising her family with new cake creations.
Wow Foodal’s taking us on a world tour with Easter dishes today, haha. I’ve never heard of this dessert before today, and I must say it looks great. I’m not a huge fan of the overly dense fruitcake so this looks like a fantastic alternative to serve with some coffee or tea in the afternoon.
Another beautiful, delicious German recipe! Maybe it would worth the extra weight I would put on to move there. Well, for the time being I’ll just try cooking the food myself instead making the move all the way over there, lol
I think I’ll try the orange juice variation when I bake this. That sounds really tasty!
This looks absolutely tasty! Good recipe for a very fast dish if you are in a hurry with your easter preparations.
Do you think is a good idea to mix some chocolate chips in the batter?
Mmm, chocolate chips in the batter sounds like a fantastic idea! Would this work?
Now that’s what i call a brilliant idea…thank you for thinking outside the box with that missbishi… now ideas are beginning to pile up by the minute, gladly bookmarked the page, to be worked on 4th of April 2015…aren’t i thrilled 😉
You can definitely add some chocolate chips, I like to do that too! If you want to, you can exchance the lemon icing for some chocolate coating as well. Cherries would also be a nice ingredient as they go well with the egg liqueur taste.
I notice that the recipe calls for “egg liqueur”. Is this the same thing as Dutch advocaat or is it something completely different?
Yes, with egg liqueur I mean exactly the same 🙂
Am I the only person who didn’t know about ‘egg liqueur’? Is it something along the lines of American egg nog or (from the recipe I saw) it seems a tad thinner & more honey based? I suppose the consistency depends on the amount of milk (or Rum) you’re using.
Do you know advocaat? This is the kind of egg liqueur I use at home when baking this cake. I am not quite familiar with American egg nog tadition but I know that the type of egg liqueur I use at home is dairy-free. You might have atry with egg nog although I can’t tell about the difference on the consistency.
I don’t know about you but I actually prefer sponge over yeast. It’s a lot better tasting in my opinion. This is truly another great recipe; fun and absolutely delicious, Easter has never been this good. Egg liqueurs are my wife’s specialty. She enjoys making them and feeding them to our extended family.
This picture looks delicious. I like the idea of the sponge texture, and I also am not always a fan of dealing with yeast, so this sounds like something I would be interested in baking. I’m not sure what egg liqueur is, or if it is readily available here in the U.S., so I might try the orange juice variation. I like the idea of making this for the Fall, with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
Thanks, this one is really a quick and easy treat. If you can’t find egg liqueur (maybe you’ve heard of advocaat?) you might try egg nog. But as you pointed out too, orange juice will be a nice addition too. It adds a fruity touch! Especially your fall-version with cinnamon and cloves sounds delicious to me. I really enjoy working with characteristic spices like that, good idea.
I have to a question to ask. What exactly is egg liquor? Is this a seasonal item or can it be found in any grocery store? I took one look at the photo and thought this was just a classic pound cake with a simple glaze. This looks like a tempting cake I must try sometime.
Where I live, it can be found in supermarkets all over the year although peak seasons are Easter and Christmas too. Dou you know Dutch advocaat? Kind of a thick and creamy drink? That would be the kind of egg liqueur I use when baking, it is dairy free too. In another comment I suggested to use egg nog although I can’t tell exactly if they have a different consistency. I hope you will find a similar product 🙂
Well, I would eat this simply because of the name – it’s awesome! The cake itself does sound delicious also, of course, although I am wondering what egg liqueur is – I’ve never actually heard of it.
The name is quite funny, I think so, too. 🙂 If you browse through the comments, you can have a look at some of my suggestions what to use as a replacement. But if you heard of Advocaat before – this kind of drink is what I am refering to here.