The recipe I want to share with you today I made last week. I will share that it really is best the day of; though I don’t recall ever having a cinnamon bun or cake the next day that blew my socks off. The family all really liked it enough to have more than one piece so that may not be a problem for you. I had a few pieces leftover and the one way that did make it better the next day was to slice it in half and slather it with butter and grill it. That was quite nice.
Where this is a yeast bread and does need to rise twice; it does take some time but almost all of it is on its own so you don’t have to babysit it at all. I also wanted to share I think I found the best place to have my dough’s rise moving forward. I placed it in my cold oven and turned the light on. Not entirely sure the light gives off heat but it worked and it worked really well.
Danish Coffee Cake
Equipment
- 1 9x13 inch baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk warmed to 105°F
- 2¼ teaspoons dry active yeast
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Topping
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
Instructions
blooming the yeast
- in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix the yeast and warm milk together and set aside. The yeast should start to foam after a few minutes.
mix the wet ingredients then the flour
- add the sugar, egg, and butter to the milk and yeast. set the mixer to medium to combine. Add the flour and salt, slowly increase the speed on the mixer to medium for a few seconds to combine.
knead the dough and let it rest
- let the mixer knead the dough until smooth. approximately 6 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic or a wet tea towel in a warm place to rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.
Shape the dough and proof
- grease a 9x13 pan and line with parchment paper. Transfer the dough to the pan and gently stretch it to cover the entire pan. Set the pan in a warm place and let the dough rise until it doubles in size, around 45 minutes.
Topping
- in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the brown sugar and butter. Stirring frequently to incorporate the sugar into the butter. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and let it cool slightly.
baking
- preheat the oven to 400°F
- Press your fingers into the dough forming dimples. Pour the topping all over the dough, filling the dimples and trying to avoid the sides. Place into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Once the bread has puffed up and the topping is bubbling; remove from the oven and let the cake cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Best day it is made.
