Yeasted coffee cake

My friends, let's talk about yeasted coffee cake!  Did you know there was such a thing?  Maybe it's just me but I'd never thought of it or had it before...at least not knowingly. 

Maybe it's not a huge stretch of the imagination when we think about yeasted sweet doughs we know and love - everything from cinnamon rolls to brioche, to babka. Well, now I've had yeasted coffee cake and I'll just say it is big-time tasty!  Not only that, this recipe is easy...oh so very dangerously easy...

This recent sweet breakfast came to be thanks to my son's love of these coffee cake muffins - we adore the small-batch recipe from Dessert for Two so much that I now have to double the recipe when I make it!  So I went looking for other ideas and came across a yeasted version of coffee cake that had me totally intrigued.  

Like many of Christina's recipe, it seemed almost too good to be true, too easy to be the case but again, the proof was in the results.  The process is so simple.  Just mix the ingredients together to form the dough, then spread it into a loaf pan (this is a small-batch recipe, perfect for feeding my family of 3) - no kneading involved!  All you need is about 45 minutes to an hour of time for proofing, to let the dough do its magic.  If you plan to serve it for breakfast, I can tell you it's a great do-ahead.  I made the dough and crumb topping the day before and stored everything in the refrigerator.  In the morning, I let the dough proof before popping it in the oven and we had warm, fragrant yeasted coffee cake to start the day with.

Through the magic of yeast, the cake is soft, fluffy, and a bit chewy; it has a wonderful light texture.  The crumb topping is what you know and love, with an added chocolate bonus!  I thought of the cinnamon rolls I make and how I always include a little chocolate in the filling; in that vein, I scattered a couple of tablespoons of mini chocolate chips among the streusel for this cake and it was lovely; I highly recommend it. 

If all that wasn't enough, drizzle a bit of glaze on top and there you have a sweet breakfast worthy of waking up early on a weekend morning for.  For us, it certainly perked up a cloudy Saturday morning.


Besides the timing involved with proofing this dough for about 45 minutes, this is really simple for a yeasted baked good!  You literally mix the yeast and other dry ingredients together in a bowl, then add a warmed mixture of water and butter.  Stir and just spread the dough into a loaf pan.  That's it.

The recipe states it's okay if you can't spread the dough all the way to the corners of the pan because it will spread as it rises.  I didn't have a problem with this.  The photo above shows the dough that's just been mixed and spread into the pan.

I made both the dough and streusel topping ahead and covered both with plastic wrap and stored them in the fridge overnight for baking the next morning.  It's hard to tell but the dough in the photo above has risen to about double the original size.  The streusel is made with chilled/room temperature butter cut into the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  I'm still undecided about the best way to make streusel though I'm a little more inclined to think the melted butter method might be a bit easier in terms of getting larger clumps, which I like.

As I mentioned, I wanted to incorporate chocolate into the picture.  It's totally optional but if you love chocolate as much as I do, I don't think you'll regret it.  I sprinkled about 2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips among the topping that goes on top of the dough.

In 30 minutes, you will have a fragrant, golden-brown yeasted coffee cake to admire and treat yourself and your family to. This cake, baked in a standard loaf pan, slices into 3 solid portions but it's certainly up to you if you want to eat a little more, or less.

To take it over the top, make a simple glaze and drizzle some over the warm cake right before serving.  It may not be necessary but it sure is nice!  And for the adults, make sure there's some strong hot coffee ready to go.  What a great combination!

Like a cross between coffee cake and cinnamon roll, this cake was really tasty and we cleaned our plates.  The cake texture is light and bouncy, with a bit of chew to it. The streusel topping adds sweetness, crunch, spice, and even chocolate, in my case! I was a very happy camper after enjoying this treat.

Update (January 2018): After making this delicious cake again, I realized I really like the streusel topping from the small batch coffee cake here.  It's a bit less rich and sweet, and is easy to put together.  I've adjusted the recipe below accordingly.

Recipe:  

Yeasted Coffee Cake
Adapted from Dessert for Two (streusel topping from small batch coffee cake muffin recipe)

- For one 9x5 inch loaf cake, approximately 3 servings - 

For cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For streusel:
1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (optional)

For glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Splash of milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, stir the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt together.  Place water and butter together in a measuring cup and heat in the microwave until mixture reaches 130 degrees (use a thermometer to check; because the yeast has already been added to the flour mixture, the appropriate temperature is hotter than normal).  

Stir the egg yolk and vanilla into the water-butter mixture and pour immediately into the flour mixture in the bowl (don't let the liquid mixture sit because it can cook the egg yolk).  

Stir the dough together with a wooden spoon, then spread it into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.  (Although I didn't have this issue, it's okay if the dough doesn't reach the corners of the pan as it will expand as it proofs.)

Cover the pan and let rise in a warm spot for about 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make streusel by combining all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips in a small bowl.  Using your fingers, pinch ingredients together to make some larger clumps.  If using, lightly stir in the mini chocolate chips.  Spread the streusel topping evenly over the dough.

Bake for 30 minutes, until crumb topping is browned and a cake tester comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and while cake cools slightly, make the glaze by whisking ingredients together. 

Slice and plate cake.  Drizzle with icing, then serve immediately while still warm.

*Do Ahead option: To prep the cake in advance, prepare the dough as described (without proofing) the night before.  Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  In the morning, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size (this may take about an hour).  Continue with recipe as listed.  

Streusel topping can also be made ahead of time.  Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until ready to use.