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1
To make the starter, place the yeast in a small bowl, add the water, stirring, permitting the yeast to soften and activate for 15 minutes.
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2
Stir in the flour, forming a smooth batter.
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3
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, until the contents double.
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4
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer or a wooden spoon, beat the flour, salt, sugar, and eggs.
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5
Add the rested, risen starter and beat the batter hard for 5 minutes with the mixer or for 7 minutes by hand.
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6
In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, orange zest, aniseeds, and 1/3 cup of Cointreau and incorporate them into the batter.
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7
Cover with plastic wrap and permit its mass to doubleabout 1 1/2 hoursat which point the batter will have transformed itself into a rather stringy and elastic but still very soft dough.
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8
Beat in the softened butter with your hands, breaking down the fiber of the dough and urging it to smoothness.
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9
Last, beat in the candied peel.
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10
Butter the surfaces of two moldsKugelhopf tins, Bundt cake tins, high-sided charlotte molds, or souffle dishes, or, perhaps best of all, those very deep aluminum tins with removable bottoms often used to bake angel food cakesand pour or spoon in the dough evenly between the two.
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11
Cover the molds with clean kitchen towels and permit the pizze to rise for an hour or so or until they have reached the tops of the molds.
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12
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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13
Bake the breads for 7 minutes, adjusting the temperature to 350 degrees and continuing the bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the breads have taken on a dark, gold skin and are risen well above the rims of their molds.
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14
Permit the pizze to cool slightly, then turn them out of their molds, setting them upright to cool thoroughly on wire racks.
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15
Meanwhile, make a simple glaze by beating 2 tablespoons of the Cointreau and the orange juice into the confectioners sugar.
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16
Cover the glaze and beat it again after about thirty minutes.
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17
When the breads are fully cooled, spoon the glaze over the domes of the bread, permitting it to drip, as it will, down their sides.
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18
Let the glaze dry and repeat the process once or twice more, using it up.
