I adapted this recipe from page 110 of the book Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, by Jennifer McLagan. Following is the recipe and method as I made it.
Ingredients
Bread
500 grams (4 cups) AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
8 grams (about 1 packet) dry yeast
1 cup milk
150 grams (2/3 cup) butter, softened
3 eggs, whisked
Filling
8-12 oz package of bacon, to taste
1 large onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 small red pepper, chopped
1 small orange or yellow pepper, chopped
a little sage and/or rosemary, to taste
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a large food processor. Process until well mixed.
Pour in the milk. Add the butter a little at a time until it is all incorporated, then add the eggs ⅓ at a time, being sure that each is incorporated before adding the next ⅓.
Continue to process until the dough is smooth, very soft, and sticky, 3-5 minutes.
Using some bacon fat or butter, grease a large bowl.
Tip the dough into the bowl, cover and leave in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size, 1 to 1½ hours.
In the meantime, cook the bacon until it is just crisp. Drain and reserve about 2 tablespoons of the fat.
In the same pan, cook the onion and peppers in the reserved fat until they soften somewhat. Cut the bacon into rough squares (size to taste) and stir it, along with the herbs, into the vegetable mixture.
Set the mixture aside to cool.
When the dough has doubled, punch it down and turn it onto a floured work surface. Let it rest for about 10 minutes.
Grease Dorothy really well with butter or some bacon fat.
With well-floured hands, knead the dough a bit and then press it out into a large rectangle.
Scatter the bacon/vegetable mixture as well as the optional walnuts across the rectangle and then fold/knead it until the mixture is evenly distributed in the dough.
Form the dough into a ball about the diameter of Dorothy.
Use your hand to make a hole in the center and then carefully lower the whole thing into Dorothy.
Cover the pan with a towel and leave it to rise until it's within ¾ of an inch from the top of the pan. It can take anywhere from 1-3 hours, depending the the temperature of your house! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Bake the kugelhopf until it's golden and the cake sounds hollow when tapped, about 35-40 minutes.
Place the pan on a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes before turning it out of the pan.
You can serve it warm, but yeast breads always do better if you let them cool completely before cutting.
Toast a slice and slather it with butter for a piece of pure heaven. It will keep on the counter for 2 or 3 days.
Recipe by Dishwasher Required at http://dishwasherrequired.com/kugelhopfaulard/