EX UNO PLURES RECIPES
Basic Coffee Cake Dough
2 packages active dry yeast
¼ cup warm (110° F) water
1 cup milk (skim, 2%, or whole milk all OK)
¼ cup of butter
¼ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 large egg, beaten
4½ to 4¾ cups all-purpose flour
Proof the yeast by mixing it in a small bowl with the warm water and allowing it to develop for five minutes. Heat milk and butter in a saucepan, but do not boil. Add sugar and salt, mix well and cool to lukewarm. Pour into a five-quart mixing bowl and stir in the mash potatoes, proofed yeast and eggs until smooth. One cup at a time, add four cups of flour, mixing thoroughly each time until the flour is incorporated. Add another half cup of flour and mix with your hands; the dough will pull away from the side of the bowl and forms a single mass. Remove from bowl and turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for six to eight minutes, adding small amounts of flour as needed to form a smooth, elastic dough. You may also use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment for five or six minutes. Remember that dough for coffee cake should be slightly softer than most bread dough. Place in a greased bowl and let rise, covered, in a warm place free of drafts until doubled, about one hour. Punch down dough and knead briefly to expel the larger air bubbles. Allow dough to rest for five minutes before shaping.
Breadhead Back Story
---You might wonder why I give a recipe for coffee cake dough that has to be divided in half for most of my recipes. First, I find it difficult to knead small amounts of dough--in this case it would be only 2¼ cups of flour---and the likelihood of adding too much flour becomes greater, resulting in a stiff dough which is difficult to shape and yields a dry, dense loaf. Secondly, if you’re going to the trouble to make the dough, you might as well make a second coffee cake to share with a neighbor, take to work, or pop in the freezer for next week’s book club meeting or church potluck. In addition, you can easily bake two in the same oven, which is more energy efficient. Trust me, this is better.
--Alert Breadheads might be surprised to see two packages of yeast for just over four cups of flour, the usual ratio being one package of active dry yeast for every four cups of flour in a recipe. But this dough uses a larger proportion of sugar, eggs and butter, so it requires the extra lifting power.
Almond Spiral Coffeecake
½ batch of Basic Coffee Cake Dough
12 oz. can of almond filling (not almond paste) (Solo brand is best)
Powdered Sugar Drizzle
¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted
On a lightly floured board, roll dough out into a rectangle 12” x 14”. Spread filling evenly over dough. Starting from the 14” side, roll the dough up jellyroll style. With the seam facing up, use a sharp knife or large pizza cutter to cut the roll lengthwise, all the way through. On a 12” pizza pan lightly coated with cooking spray, form half of the dough into a spiral, cut side up. Take the second half and press into the end of the other section and continue the spiral. Cover with a dry towel and let rise until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan and cool on rack. Swirl with powdered sugar glaze and sprinkle with toasted almonds before serving.
Breadhead Back Story
I found a recipe similar to this on Pinterest using a fig filling, but I’ve loved almond filling ever since tasted an almond coffee cake at a baking contest at the California State Fair for which I was a judge. It’s a monastic family favorite as well, and makes a scrumptious addition to a Christmas breakfast table.
You can easily toast almonds in the oven as the coffee cake cools. Start by reducing the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Spread the sliced almonds out on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for five minutes, stir, and return them to the oven for another five or ten minutes, or until lightly browned. Set a timer---they can burn very quickly! I’ve probably had to throw out several pounds worth of various types of nuts over the course of my baking career because I got distracted doing dishes and didn’t keep an eye on the oven.
Babka
½ batch Basic Coffee Cake Dough
1 13-oz jar of chocolate or chocolate hazelnut spread
Prepare dough through first rise. Punch dough down and knead lightly. Divide dough in half and allow to rest. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. On a lightly-floured surface, roll a portion of dough out into a rectangle 18” x 18”. Heat jar of chocolate spread in the microwave for 15 seconds on high and stir. Smear the chocolate spread over the dough, leaving a ½” border. Roll dough up jellyroll style and pinch edges to seal. Form the roll into an “S” shape and place in the prepared loaf pan. Cover loaf with a clean, dry cloth and allow to rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. During this time, use a small spatula to get the last vestige of chocolate spread out of the jar and smear it on a cracker for a little treat—you’ve been working hard!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake on the middle rack for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. The interior temperature measured with an instant read thermometer should be 190 to 195 degrees F. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks before serving or wrapping.
Breadhead Back Story
--Among most Christians in central and eastern Europe, babka is an iced cake, usually served at Easter. The Jewish version of babka is a yeast bread, filled with chocolate or cinnamon and often topped with streusel. Chopped semisweet chocolate is used, but I like the convenience and spreadability (is that a word?) of chocolate hazelnut spread. When I’m feeling particularly ambitious, I’ll make the spread myself---recipes online abound.
--The dough usually rolled and twisted to create multiple layers of sweet dough and filling, and can be baked in a loaf, in a Bundt pan, or free form on a cookie sheet. The version described here is for a loaf pan. If you use a Bundt pan, roll the dough out to 12” by 24”, add filling and roll up as directed. Then double the roll back on itself and twist it together before arranging it in the pan.
Lemon Fantans
½ batch of Basic Coffee Cake Dough
Lemon Filling
½ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons grated lemon zest
(2 or 3 lemons, depending on size)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoon lemon juice
Gently deflate the dough—do not punch down and knead, or you will have to let it rest 10 minutes before rolling it out. On a lightly floured board, roll out the dough into a rectangle, about 20” x 12”. Using a soft pastry brush, spread the melted butter over the dough. Starting from the long side, use a small pizza cutter or pastry wheel to cut the dough into 10 equal strips, each about 2” by 12”.
Lightly grease a twelve-cup muffin tin. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of the zest-sugar mixture over one strip of dough (press sugar mixture in gently, so it doesn’t fall off when you move the stack later). Top with a second strip and sprinkle it with the zest-sugar mixture. Repeat with 2 more sections and then top with a final strip of dough. Repeat procedure, so that you end up with 2 stacks of five strips.
Using a very sharp knife, slice the stack crosswise through the five layers to create twelve sections, each about 2” x 2”. Place each stack into a muffin cup cut edges up (you may have to squish them a bit). Cover with a clean, dry cloth and let rise in a warm place free of drafts until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake on the middle rack until the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing rolls. In a medium bowl whisk milk and lemon juice with powdered sugar until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over rolls and serve warm.
Breadhead Backstory
Butter fantans are an old-fashioned dinner roll you don’t see anymore, but they served as the inspiration of these lemony breakfast treats. My first experiment with this recipe was in the form of a large pull-apart loaf, but I thought it was awkward to serve in that form. A muffin-sized roll is easier to serve and eat.
After developing this recipe while at Lake Thunderbird, I took some to the local fire station for the late shift and was greeted with enthusiastic gratitude. Whenever you see a recipe that appeals to you--in this book or on Pinterest or in a magazine—think seriously about sharing your goodies with local police, EMTs, ER nurses, and other service personnel.
Sweetheart Coffee Cake½ batch of Basic Coffee Cake Dough
1 (12 oz.) can cherry or raspberry pastry filling (Solo brand is best)
Powdered Sugar Drizzle
Sliced almonds (optional)
On a lightly floured board, roll dough out into a rectangle 12” x 14”. Spread the filling over the dough, leaving 1 inch of the top wide edge dry. Starting at the bottom wide edge, roll the dough up jellyroll style. Lightly brush the top edge with a little water, so it will stick to the roll; pinch to seal. Using a sharp knife cut the roll lengthwise, leaving about 2 inches uncut at both ends. Grasp the two sections near the top and rotate them so the interior layers are facing upwards, and pull the top section toward you to form the heart shape (see photos). Place on a baking sheet or jellyroll pan lined with parchment. Cover with a dry towel and let rise until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheet and cool on rack. Decorate with swirls of Powdered Sugar Drizzle and sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds if desired.
Breadhead Back Story
I got the idea for this heart-shaped bread in a cookbook which featured recipes for every holiday, including Valentine’s Day. The photo showed a cinnamon sugar-filled bread similar to the one shown here, but the directions did not in any way describe the coffee cake pictured! I managed to figure it out on my own after a little experimentation. I like it best with cherry filling, almond-flavored drizzle, and toasted sliced almonds, but the raspberry version seems more popular with the brethren.
Shaping this coffee cake is easier if you make the dough a little bit firmer, so don’t hesitate to add that last quarter cup of flour. You can also use bread flour, which has more protein and holds its shape better. With the bright red cherry filling, it looks like a bloody squid as you’re working, but don’t let that deter you! The end result is lovely, charming and delicious. Your sweetheart will thank you.
Basic Coffee Cake Dough
2 packages active dry yeast
¼ cup warm (110° F) water
1 cup milk (skim, 2%, or whole milk all OK)
¼ cup of butter
¼ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 large egg, beaten
4½ to 4¾ cups all-purpose flour
Proof the yeast by mixing it in a small bowl with the warm water and allowing it to develop for five minutes. Heat milk and butter in a saucepan, but do not boil. Add sugar and salt, mix well and cool to lukewarm. Pour into a five-quart mixing bowl and stir in the mash potatoes, proofed yeast and eggs until smooth. One cup at a time, add four cups of flour, mixing thoroughly each time until the flour is incorporated. Add another half cup of flour and mix with your hands; the dough will pull away from the side of the bowl and forms a single mass. Remove from bowl and turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for six to eight minutes, adding small amounts of flour as needed to form a smooth, elastic dough. You may also use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment for five or six minutes. Remember that dough for coffee cake should be slightly softer than most bread dough. Place in a greased bowl and let rise, covered, in a warm place free of drafts until doubled, about one hour. Punch down dough and knead briefly to expel the larger air bubbles. Allow dough to rest for five minutes before shaping.
Breadhead Back Story
---You might wonder why I give a recipe for coffee cake dough that has to be divided in half for most of my recipes. First, I find it difficult to knead small amounts of dough--in this case it would be only 2¼ cups of flour---and the likelihood of adding too much flour becomes greater, resulting in a stiff dough which is difficult to shape and yields a dry, dense loaf. Secondly, if you’re going to the trouble to make the dough, you might as well make a second coffee cake to share with a neighbor, take to work, or pop in the freezer for next week’s book club meeting or church potluck. In addition, you can easily bake two in the same oven, which is more energy efficient. Trust me, this is better.
--Alert Breadheads might be surprised to see two packages of yeast for just over four cups of flour, the usual ratio being one package of active dry yeast for every four cups of flour in a recipe. But this dough uses a larger proportion of sugar, eggs and butter, so it requires the extra lifting power.
Almond Spiral Coffeecake
½ batch of Basic Coffee Cake Dough
12 oz. can of almond filling (not almond paste) (Solo brand is best)
Powdered Sugar Drizzle
¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted
On a lightly floured board, roll dough out into a rectangle 12” x 14”. Spread filling evenly over dough. Starting from the 14” side, roll the dough up jellyroll style. With the seam facing up, use a sharp knife or large pizza cutter to cut the roll lengthwise, all the way through. On a 12” pizza pan lightly coated with cooking spray, form half of the dough into a spiral, cut side up. Take the second half and press into the end of the other section and continue the spiral. Cover with a dry towel and let rise until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan and cool on rack. Swirl with powdered sugar glaze and sprinkle with toasted almonds before serving.
Breadhead Back Story
I found a recipe similar to this on Pinterest using a fig filling, but I’ve loved almond filling ever since tasted an almond coffee cake at a baking contest at the California State Fair for which I was a judge. It’s a monastic family favorite as well, and makes a scrumptious addition to a Christmas breakfast table.
You can easily toast almonds in the oven as the coffee cake cools. Start by reducing the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Spread the sliced almonds out on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for five minutes, stir, and return them to the oven for another five or ten minutes, or until lightly browned. Set a timer---they can burn very quickly! I’ve probably had to throw out several pounds worth of various types of nuts over the course of my baking career because I got distracted doing dishes and didn’t keep an eye on the oven.
Babka
½ batch Basic Coffee Cake Dough
1 13-oz jar of chocolate or chocolate hazelnut spread
Prepare dough through first rise. Punch dough down and knead lightly. Divide dough in half and allow to rest. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. On a lightly-floured surface, roll a portion of dough out into a rectangle 18” x 18”. Heat jar of chocolate spread in the microwave for 15 seconds on high and stir. Smear the chocolate spread over the dough, leaving a ½” border. Roll dough up jellyroll style and pinch edges to seal. Form the roll into an “S” shape and place in the prepared loaf pan. Cover loaf with a clean, dry cloth and allow to rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. During this time, use a small spatula to get the last vestige of chocolate spread out of the jar and smear it on a cracker for a little treat—you’ve been working hard!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake on the middle rack for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. The interior temperature measured with an instant read thermometer should be 190 to 195 degrees F. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks before serving or wrapping.
Breadhead Back Story
--Among most Christians in central and eastern Europe, babka is an iced cake, usually served at Easter. The Jewish version of babka is a yeast bread, filled with chocolate or cinnamon and often topped with streusel. Chopped semisweet chocolate is used, but I like the convenience and spreadability (is that a word?) of chocolate hazelnut spread. When I’m feeling particularly ambitious, I’ll make the spread myself---recipes online abound.
--The dough usually rolled and twisted to create multiple layers of sweet dough and filling, and can be baked in a loaf, in a Bundt pan, or free form on a cookie sheet. The version described here is for a loaf pan. If you use a Bundt pan, roll the dough out to 12” by 24”, add filling and roll up as directed. Then double the roll back on itself and twist it together before arranging it in the pan.
Lemon Fantans
½ batch of Basic Coffee Cake Dough
Lemon Filling
½ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons grated lemon zest
(2 or 3 lemons, depending on size)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoon lemon juice
Gently deflate the dough—do not punch down and knead, or you will have to let it rest 10 minutes before rolling it out. On a lightly floured board, roll out the dough into a rectangle, about 20” x 12”. Using a soft pastry brush, spread the melted butter over the dough. Starting from the long side, use a small pizza cutter or pastry wheel to cut the dough into 10 equal strips, each about 2” by 12”.
Lightly grease a twelve-cup muffin tin. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of the zest-sugar mixture over one strip of dough (press sugar mixture in gently, so it doesn’t fall off when you move the stack later). Top with a second strip and sprinkle it with the zest-sugar mixture. Repeat with 2 more sections and then top with a final strip of dough. Repeat procedure, so that you end up with 2 stacks of five strips.
Using a very sharp knife, slice the stack crosswise through the five layers to create twelve sections, each about 2” x 2”. Place each stack into a muffin cup cut edges up (you may have to squish them a bit). Cover with a clean, dry cloth and let rise in a warm place free of drafts until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake on the middle rack until the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing rolls. In a medium bowl whisk milk and lemon juice with powdered sugar until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over rolls and serve warm.
Breadhead Backstory
Butter fantans are an old-fashioned dinner roll you don’t see anymore, but they served as the inspiration of these lemony breakfast treats. My first experiment with this recipe was in the form of a large pull-apart loaf, but I thought it was awkward to serve in that form. A muffin-sized roll is easier to serve and eat.
After developing this recipe while at Lake Thunderbird, I took some to the local fire station for the late shift and was greeted with enthusiastic gratitude. Whenever you see a recipe that appeals to you--in this book or on Pinterest or in a magazine—think seriously about sharing your goodies with local police, EMTs, ER nurses, and other service personnel.
Sweetheart Coffee Cake½ batch of Basic Coffee Cake Dough
1 (12 oz.) can cherry or raspberry pastry filling (Solo brand is best)
Powdered Sugar Drizzle
Sliced almonds (optional)
On a lightly floured board, roll dough out into a rectangle 12” x 14”. Spread the filling over the dough, leaving 1 inch of the top wide edge dry. Starting at the bottom wide edge, roll the dough up jellyroll style. Lightly brush the top edge with a little water, so it will stick to the roll; pinch to seal. Using a sharp knife cut the roll lengthwise, leaving about 2 inches uncut at both ends. Grasp the two sections near the top and rotate them so the interior layers are facing upwards, and pull the top section toward you to form the heart shape (see photos). Place on a baking sheet or jellyroll pan lined with parchment. Cover with a dry towel and let rise until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheet and cool on rack. Decorate with swirls of Powdered Sugar Drizzle and sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds if desired.
Breadhead Back Story
I got the idea for this heart-shaped bread in a cookbook which featured recipes for every holiday, including Valentine’s Day. The photo showed a cinnamon sugar-filled bread similar to the one shown here, but the directions did not in any way describe the coffee cake pictured! I managed to figure it out on my own after a little experimentation. I like it best with cherry filling, almond-flavored drizzle, and toasted sliced almonds, but the raspberry version seems more popular with the brethren.
Shaping this coffee cake is easier if you make the dough a little bit firmer, so don’t hesitate to add that last quarter cup of flour. You can also use bread flour, which has more protein and holds its shape better. With the bright red cherry filling, it looks like a bloody squid as you’re working, but don’t let that deter you! The end result is lovely, charming and delicious. Your sweetheart will thank you.