It is well past the middle of April and although spring has officially arrived you would never know it. Cold temperatures continue with howling cold winds and yes it was snowing just this past weekend. My poor tulips are still in tight buds with no sign of blooming anytime soon and so it seems that the only thing blooming around here is my coffee cake.
But this is where I stop carrying on about our dreary spring and write about this wonderful coffee cake that I have been baking every Christmas and Easter for probably the last twenty years.
It has become a tradition to have this for breakfast on these special occasions and also to have it on our dessert table along with other goodies.
This coffee cake ring is filled with sugar, brown sugar, chopped walnuts and cinnamon. The recipe also has raisins in it but I omit them because hubby doesn't like them. Many years ago when my children were very young I use to make another version of this bread that was filled with apples, nuts, sugar and cinnamon. My children don't remember this bread ever being filled with apples but my nephew Robb (with two b's) who was probably seven or eight years old at the time does. When I began making it without the apples my clever nephew began referring to this bread as the Appleless Apple Coffee Cake and almost twenty years later he still does.
I bake them ahead of time and store them in the freezer and on Easter morning I drizzle them with a vanilla icing.
Makes 2 rings
Sweet-Roll Dough
2 pkg. dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 cup milk, warmed
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
3 eggs
5¼ to 5-¾ cups all purpose flour
Note: If eggs are refrigerator cold, pour hot water over them and let stand for several minutes to warm before cracking.
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a small cup or bowl, stir, and let stand for a minute of so to dissolve. Combine the milk, sugar, salt, butter, and eggs in a large mixing bowl, and beat well. Stir in the dissolved yeast. Add 2-1/2 cups of the flour, and beat until smooth and well blended. Add 2-1/2 cups more flour and beat until the dough holds together in a rough, shaggy mass. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Resume kneading for 8 to 10 minutes more, gradually sprinkling on a little more flour if the dough sticks to your hands, until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk.
Punch the risen dough down, and it is ready to be formed and baked according to other recipes which call for Sweet-Roll Dough. You can also freeze the dough at this point, or store in the refrigerator for a few days in a tightly covered container.
Filling
½ cup sugar (100 gr.)
½ cup brown sugar (95 gr.)
1 tbsp. cinnamon (10 gr.)
1 cup chopped walnuts (110 gr.)
¼ cup melted butter
1 cup raisins
Boiling Water
Place the raisins in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover, if using. In another bowl, combine the granulated and brown sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and nuts, mixing well.
Divide the dough in half. Roll one half on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 8 inches wide and 20 inches long. If the dough is difficult to roll and constantly springs back, let it rest for a few minutes, then continue rolling. Brush the surface of the dough with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Sprinkle half the sugar-nut mixture evenly over the dough. Drain the raisins is using and pat them dry with paper towels. Sprinkle half the raisins over the dough. Gently press the filling into the dough with our fingers. Roll u the long way, to seal. Turn the dough so the seam is on the bottom. Form the dough into a circle by bringing the ends together, overlapping them lightly, and pressing firmly to seal. Roll out, fill, and shape the second coffee cake the same way. Grease one large or two smaller cookie sheets – if you have a sheet about 14 x 18 inches, you can fit both rings on one. Transfer the cakes to the baking sheet or sheets. With a pair of scissors, or sharp knife make twelve to fourteen deep cuts all around the outside of each ring. Turn each out slightly to expose the cross-section. Cover and let rise for about an hour, until puffy and swollen, but not quite double in bulk.
Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for 25 to 30 minutes (reversing the sheets form top to bottom and front to back if you are baking on both racks), until nicely browned. Remove from the oven and slide rings onto racks and cool completely.
To make the glaze: Combine the confectioners’ sugar and water, and mix until perfectly smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the warm cakes.
But this is where I stop carrying on about our dreary spring and write about this wonderful coffee cake that I have been baking every Christmas and Easter for probably the last twenty years.
It has become a tradition to have this for breakfast on these special occasions and also to have it on our dessert table along with other goodies.
This coffee cake ring is filled with sugar, brown sugar, chopped walnuts and cinnamon. The recipe also has raisins in it but I omit them because hubby doesn't like them. Many years ago when my children were very young I use to make another version of this bread that was filled with apples, nuts, sugar and cinnamon. My children don't remember this bread ever being filled with apples but my nephew Robb (with two b's) who was probably seven or eight years old at the time does. When I began making it without the apples my clever nephew began referring to this bread as the Appleless Apple Coffee Cake and almost twenty years later he still does.
It is a delicious sweet bread that isn't terribly difficult to make. It takes a little more effort than just shaping into a loaf but in the end you are rewarded with a handsome yeasty coffee cake.
I bake them ahead of time and store them in the freezer and on Easter morning I drizzle them with a vanilla icing.
Happy Easter.
Yeastspotted.
Blooming Coffee Cake Rings
Blooming Coffee Cake Rings
Makes 2 rings
Sweet-Roll Dough
2 pkg. dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 cup milk, warmed
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
3 eggs
5¼ to 5-¾ cups all purpose flour
Note: If eggs are refrigerator cold, pour hot water over them and let stand for several minutes to warm before cracking.
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a small cup or bowl, stir, and let stand for a minute of so to dissolve. Combine the milk, sugar, salt, butter, and eggs in a large mixing bowl, and beat well. Stir in the dissolved yeast. Add 2-1/2 cups of the flour, and beat until smooth and well blended. Add 2-1/2 cups more flour and beat until the dough holds together in a rough, shaggy mass. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Resume kneading for 8 to 10 minutes more, gradually sprinkling on a little more flour if the dough sticks to your hands, until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk.
Punch the risen dough down, and it is ready to be formed and baked according to other recipes which call for Sweet-Roll Dough. You can also freeze the dough at this point, or store in the refrigerator for a few days in a tightly covered container.
Filling
½ cup sugar (100 gr.)
½ cup brown sugar (95 gr.)
1 tbsp. cinnamon (10 gr.)
1 cup chopped walnuts (110 gr.)
¼ cup melted butter
1 cup raisins
Boiling Water
Place the raisins in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover, if using. In another bowl, combine the granulated and brown sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and nuts, mixing well.
Divide the dough in half. Roll one half on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 8 inches wide and 20 inches long. If the dough is difficult to roll and constantly springs back, let it rest for a few minutes, then continue rolling. Brush the surface of the dough with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Sprinkle half the sugar-nut mixture evenly over the dough. Drain the raisins is using and pat them dry with paper towels. Sprinkle half the raisins over the dough. Gently press the filling into the dough with our fingers. Roll u the long way, to seal. Turn the dough so the seam is on the bottom. Form the dough into a circle by bringing the ends together, overlapping them lightly, and pressing firmly to seal. Roll out, fill, and shape the second coffee cake the same way. Grease one large or two smaller cookie sheets – if you have a sheet about 14 x 18 inches, you can fit both rings on one. Transfer the cakes to the baking sheet or sheets. With a pair of scissors, or sharp knife make twelve to fourteen deep cuts all around the outside of each ring. Turn each out slightly to expose the cross-section. Cover and let rise for about an hour, until puffy and swollen, but not quite double in bulk.
Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for 25 to 30 minutes (reversing the sheets form top to bottom and front to back if you are baking on both racks), until nicely browned. Remove from the oven and slide rings onto racks and cool completely.
To make the glaze: Combine the confectioners’ sugar and water, and mix until perfectly smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the warm cakes.
9 comments:
Oriana,
What a beautiful breakfast item to have for Easter. Who needs blooming flowers when they can have such a lovely blooming coffeecake? I think I'd take the cake!
Sandra,
Thank you. With this same recipe you can also make cinnamon rolls. After you have rolled up the dough with the filling you just cut about twelve portions and lay them in an oblong pan and proceed. They would make an awsome breakfast as well.
You probably have lovely flowers throughout most of the year, lucky you. I surely would love to see them spring up around here, they really to wonders after a long winter.
Yes, winter has definitely worn out its welcome here too. Though we do have daffodils and tulips and some blooming trees going now, it's still cold. Those cakes look so gorgeous and I love doing things ahead, (ask me what I've been doing all week.) Do you serve them at room temp or reheat the whole thing or individual slices when serving?
Hello Hobby Baker,
Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your comment.
I just let the coffee cakes come to room temperature, drizzle with icing and serve.
It's a good thing they freeze beautifully because I could not fit it all in on Easter weekend.
bellissimo Oriana, mi piace molto, adoro il caffè!Tanti auguri di Buona Pasqua, un abbraccio!
How wonderful!! Looks delicious!
Chiara
Grazie e di nuovo Buona Pasqua.
Sabrina
Thank you and congratulations to the both of you! Happy Easter.
Oriana, there is so much baked and cooked goodness on your blog that my mind is spinning. I want it all - the blooming coffee cake, all the bread puddings you make, scones - everything. This coffee cake, though, seems to have my name written with the lovely glaze on it. Hope it doesn't lose its taste after Easter, and is equally divine on Victoria Day long weekend. What do you think?
Gosia,
Thank you for your kind comments, I really do appreciate them. The coffee cake freezes beautifully and is as tasty on Victoria Day weekend as it was on Easter.
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