Butter Cake with Gingerbread Swirls

Here's how:

• 1

  Crumble the yeast into a stand mixer. Pour the milk over the yeast and stir until it dissolves.

• 2

  Add the remaining ingredients and knead the dough in a stand mixer for 5 minutes on low speed and 3 minutes on medium speed. Let it rise for 30 minutes, covered with a kitchen towel.

• 3

  Mix the ingredients for the filling together in a bowl.

• 4

  Place the dough on a floured work surface and roll it out into a rectangle measuring 30×60 cm.

• 5

  Spread out the filling and roll it up into a log.

• 6

  Divide the length into about 16 equal pieces, each about 4 cm long.

• 7

  Take out two 23-cm ovenproof pans with removable rims and line them with parchment paper.

• 8

  Preheat the oven to 200 °C (convection oven) (225 °C for a conventional oven).

• 9

  Divide 8 “dough pieces” among the molds. Let rise under a kitchen towel for about 30 minutes.

• 10

  Brush with egg and sprinkle with almond slivers.

• 11

  Bake for about 30 minutes; if necessary, rotate the shortbread cookies in the oven or cover them with parchment paper while baking to ensure they brown evenly and to the desired color. The recommended internal temperature is 96–98 °C. (If using a standard oven, it is recommended to bake one pan at a time.)

• 12

  Let cool in the pans, covered with a kitchen towel.

• 13

  Feel free to dust a little powdered sugar on top when serving.