yeasted bread chronicles, chapter II

this one’s a keeper. there was a post about this bread/cake at thekitchn, which is originally from flo braker (via leite’s culinaria). i love sweet yeasted breads and buns, and this is the best of the bunch. really, it’s a cake, but i always think of yeasted things as breads, so there you go. essentially, this is a yeasted dough that gets rolled out after the second rise, then cut into rectangles spread with lemon zest and sugar, and stacked into a loaf pan. the dough gets one last rise and then goes into the oven. when you eat it, you can just pull the sheets off one by one.

this dough is less eggy and less bready than the overnight cinnamon buns, but somehow manages to be richer. ok, the butter brushed between the rectangles of dough helps a lot. and this dough is moister than the cinnamon buns, which makes it seem more like cake, less like bread. regardless, it’s delicious, and after being attacked by four of us for dessert, it was more than half gone. it’s not too sweet – the cream cheese icing has a bump of lemon juice in it to balance the sweetness of the bread – and if you eat it the day you bake it, the top will still be crispy.

if you have the time, make this right now. i did this over two days, refrigerating the dough after the first rise, and assembling it the next day out of the fridge. i was a bit overzealous in getting the dough to room temp after assembling it (putting it in a hot water bath that was probably a bit too hot), so that’s why the bread is super-puffed on the ends. i think i might try the alton brown technique next time, and put the assembled dough in a cold oven with a pan of hot water underneath it. one other thing – i have never understood how other people manage to roll doughs out into rectangles, so if you can do it, please inform me of your technique. i always end up with oblong ovals, rather vaguely rectangular. that’s not a real problem with this bread, so don’t worry about it.

i love yeasted breads, but i always dislike how much effort you have to put in to get the final product. while the dough is rising, i’m not actually doing anything, but i’m impatient to get the dough into the oven so i can eat it. it would even be better if i was really busy during the rising time – for example, i have no problem making really complicated things that require hours, as long as i’m kept busy chopping, stirring, etc. waiting for dough to rise is like watching water boil – interminable. i do think this bread is worthwhile, though, so maybe the solution is to double the recipe and make two loaves, freezing one to bake later.

lemon-scented pull-apart coffee cake  (adapted from flo braker via leite’s culinaria)

for the dough
2 3/4c (12.25 oz) flour
1/4c (1.75 oz) sugar
2 1/4t (1 packet) yeast
1/2t salt
1/3c (2.5 fluid oz) whole milk
2 oz (4T) butter
1/4c (2 fluid oz) water
2 eggs, at room temp

for the filling
1/2c (3.5 oz) sugar
3T lemon zest (from 3 lemons)
1T orange zest
1.5 oz (3T) butter, melted

for the icing
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3c (1.25 oz) powdered sugar
1T whole milk
1T fresh lemon juice

1. stir together 2c (9oz) of the flour, the sugar, the yeast, and the salt in a large bowl. in a small saucepan, heat the milk and butter over low heat, until the butter melts. add the water and continue to heat the mixture until it’s about 130F.

2. pour the milk mixture over the flour-yeast mixture, mixing with a rubber spatula until well combined. add the eggs one at a time, mixing with the spatula each time until completely incorporated. add 1/2c of the remaining flour, and mix with the spatula until the dough is smooth. add two more tablespoons of flour and mix until the dough is smooth.

3. flour your countertop and turn the dough out on the counter. knead until smooth and only slightly sticky (add a few more tablespoons of flour if it’s stubbornly sticky), about 10-15 minutes. the dough will be quite soft. place the dough in a buttered or oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. let the dough rise in a warm place (at least 70F) until it doubles in size, about an hour. if it’s winter, you can warm up the dough’s environment by putting the bowl in a warm water bath, though you should be sure not to make the water too hot. if you’re doing this, make sure you use a plastic bowl – it will conduct heat a little more gently than a metal bowl. if you’re refrigerating the dough overnight, punch the dough down and re-cover with plastic wrap, and pop the bowl in the fridge.

4. to make the lemon filling, mix together the sugar, lemon zest, and orange zest in a small bowl. let this stand while you handle the dough, as it will get wetter as the sugar draws moisture out of the zest).

5. butter a 9″x5″x3″ loaf pan and line with parchment paper; butter the parchment paper. flour your countertop and roll the dough out into a 20″x12″ rectangle. brush the dough with butter, using a pastry brush (be generous). using a bench scraper, pizza cutter, or knife, cut the dough into 5 vertical strips, each 4″x12″. sprinkle one of the strips with a fifth (about 1.5-2T) of the sugar-zest mixture and press it into the butter. top with another strip of dough and sprinkle it with the sugar-zest mixture, pressing it into the butter; repeat with remaining dough strips until you have one stack of rectangles. (the last layer does get sugar-zest mixture on it, btw.)

6. slice the stack horizontally into 6 strips, each 4″x2″. fill the loaf pan with the stacks (see photo above to see what it should look like), cut edges facing up. loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place (or, if the dough is cold from the refrigerator, set in a cold oven with a pan of boiling water on the rack underneath it), until the dough doubles in size, 30 to 50 minutes. (press the dough gently with your finger; if the indentation remains, the dough is ready to be baked.)

7. bake the cake until the top is a deep golden brown, 30-45 minutes. let cool as you make the icing.

8. to make the icing, mix the cream cheese and sugar until smooth with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula (or use an electric mixer). mix in the milk and lemon juice and stir until well combined.

9. remove the coffee cake from the pan, and put it on a serving plate. using a spatula, knife, or pastry brush, ice the top of the coffee cake. serve at room temp. store in an airtight container.

active cooking time: 2 hrs; total time ~4.5 hrs

[makes 1 loaf; serves 8-10]