I really do love coffee cake. I also love that there are so many coffee cake recipes in my Mid Century recipe box.
Using a recipe with yeast provides a thick, cake like coffee cake. Recipes without the yeast are usually thinner, while this recipe the cake part was quite thick.
The cake itself was good, not too sweet, not too dry.
The recipe makes a large amount - I had one 13 x 9 coffee cake and one 12 x 8 coffee cake. Oddly, the smaller cake was a little drier than the larger one. Not too dry, just a little drier.
The crumble mixture was lovely. The cinnamon and brown sugar coat the pecans beautifully. You get a lovely crunch to the nuts, and a crisp cinnamon sugar topping.
The lemon rind in the dough was the biggest surprise. You wouldn’t think it would go with the cinnamon sugar, but it really did.
The cake had little pieces of lemon throughout. So the lemon was just a hint, not a full on lemon flavor.
I served this to some friends, then took the rest to my husband’s office. This would be a great recipe to make for a holiday brunch, especially if you have guests coming!
CINNAMON SUGAR COFFEE CAKE
2 Packages Yeast
1/4 Cup Lukewarm Water
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Milk, Scalded
2 Eggs, Beaten
1 Teaspoon Grated Lemon Rind
4 Cups Sifted Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Mace or Cardamom
1/2 Cup Butter, Melted
FILLING
2/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1/4 Cup Flour
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
Dash Salt
1/4 Cup Soft Butter
2/3 Cup Chopped Pecans
Soften yeast in lukewarm water with 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Let stand 10 minutes. Add remaining sugar and salt to hot milk, stir and cool to lukewarm. Combine softened yeast with the cooled milk mixture and stir well. Add eggs, lemon rind and half the flour sifted with spice, and beat until smooth. Beat in the cooled butter then add remaining flour and stir thoroughly. Turn onto a lightly floured board. Cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Round up into a smooth ball, place in a clean, greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover with waxed paper and a clean towel and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Divide dough in two, then roll to 7x11 inch rectangles. Fit into greased pans, cover and let rise 1 hour. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt together thoroughly. Work in the soft butter to produce a coarse crumbly texture. Stir in the nuts. Sprinkle over unbaked cake. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer.
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