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Recipe in Spotlight – Grandma’s Kuglof (Hungarian Coffee Cake)

Summary: 
This post is part of a series highlighting recipes used by the White House Staff for the Jewish High Holidays.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series highlighting recipes used by the White House Staff for the Jewish High Holidays.

This is a recipe that my great grandmother, taught my grandmother who taught my mother who taught me. It is a delicious cake and I use the batter for all of my cakes. I also make it the traditional way every year for Rosh Hashanah. One minor glitch- it used to rise 7 or 8 inches but since my mother passed away 9 years ago it hasn't risen more than 3 inches. If you get it to rise you should take a picture and email it to the American Jewish Outreach Team, by clicking on the “Contact Us” tab above! :)

Grandma’s Kuglof Recipe

  • 13 tbsp butter
  • 1 ¾ cup sugar
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 1/3 cups plus additional ¼ cup of flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 3-4 tbsp cocoa powder (to taste)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Butter a tube pan.
  3. Cream butter and sugar.
  4. Add the egg yolks to the creamed butter mixture and mix well.
  5. Whisk 1 1/3 cups flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl.
  6. Gradually beat milk and flour mixture into the butter mixture, alternating milk and flour.
  7. Beat the egg whites until stiff in a separate bowl.
  8. Fold ¼ cup flour into the egg whites.
  9. Fold egg whites into the batter.
  10. Mix 1/3 of the batter with cocoa in a separate bowl.
  11. Fill the tube pan, alternating half of the white batter with the cocoa batter.
  12. Bake for 50-60 minutes to an hour, until toothpick comes out clean.

 

Shira Sternberg is an Outreach Specialist at the Environmental Protection Agency