Yeasted Coffee Cake
Instructions:
- This is a classic coffee cake—slightly sweet, slightly
doughy, slightly rich—with a crunchy nut topping. A
springform pan is ideal here, but you can certainly bake
it in a rectangular pan, a tube pan, or a large loaf pan as
you like. Just shape the dough to fit whatever pan you
choose as described in Step 4.
- 4 cups all purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons (3/3 stick) cold butter, plus softened butter for the bowl and pans
- 2 eggs
- About 1 cup milk, preferably whole
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
- 11/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds, pecans, or walnuts
- Combine 3 cups of the flour, the yeast, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a food processor. Process for 5 seconds. Add 2 tablespoons of the cold butter and the eggs and pulse a few times, until well combined.
- With the machine running, drizzle 1/2 cup milk through the feed tube. Process until a dough ball forms, adding more milk a tablespoon at a time if necessary.
- Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a minute or two, adding the raisins if you like, and a little more flour if necessary to prevent sticking. The dough is ready when it is silky smooth and quite elastic.
- Butter a large bowl and turn the dough ball in it. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until about doubled in bulk, at least 2 hours. Meanwhile, grease a 9- or 10-inch springform pan. Use a wooden spoon to beat the remaining butter, sugar, 1/2 cup flour, cinnamon, and nuts.
- Heat the oven to 350 F. Punch the dough down and knead a couple times on a floured surface. Roll the dough into a ball again, then press it into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the cake with the topping, pressing down to dimple the top. Cover and let rise until puffy, another 30 minutes or so. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack in the pan, then remove. This keeps well for a couple of days, and is good toasted for a couple more.