December 24, 2008

12 Days of Savings - Day 12: Christmas Morning Maple Coffee Cake

Christmas eve is finally here! For my 12th and final installment of this "12 Days of Savings" series I wanted to share with you one of my favorite recipes of all time. This recipe is a tradition in my family and we look forward to it all year. A piece of Christmas Morning Maple Coffee Cake is a little slice of heaven.

Earlier this week I was browsing through the fancy bakery here in my hometown. All of their products were amazing and I noticed they were selling a coffee cake for almost $25! I'll take this homemade version any day :)



Maple Coffee Cake

1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 cup heavy cream
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons maple flavoring
3-2/3 cup sifted flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons honey
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Maple-Cinnamon Filling (recipe follows)
Honey Glaze (recipe follows)

Sprinkle yeast over lukewarm water in small bowl; stir to dissolve. Add cream, egg yolks, and maple flavoring; mix well. Sift together flour, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut in the 1/2 cup butter with pastry blender until coarse crumbs are formed. Stir in cream mixture, mixing just until moistened. Divide dough into thirds and form each into a round and flatten with the heel of your hand. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Combine honey with the 6 Tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter is melted; cool to room temperature. Prepare Maple-Cinnamon Filling and set aside. Remove one section of dough from refrigerator and roll into a 12-inch circle. Place in a greased 14-inch pizza pan, or can use a large baking sheet. Brush dough with 1/3 of the honey-butter mixture and sprinkle with 1/3 of the Maple-Cinnamon Filling. Roll out another section of dough and place on top of the one in the pan. Brush with another 1/3 of the honey-butter mixture, and another 1/3 of the filling. Repeat with the last dough, honey mixture and filling. Place a 2-inch biscuit cutter or a juice glass in the center of the coffee cake to use as a guide. Cut the dough evenly into 16 wedges, using a sharp knife from edge of circle to edge of biscuit cutter in the center. Be sure to cut through all layers of dough; remove biscuit cutter. Picking up the wide end of one wedge, gently twist several times to form a corkscrew shape and lay down on pan. Repeat this twisting procedure with all the wedges. Cover coffee cake and let rise until not quite doubled, about 1 to 1-1/4 hours. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven about 25 minutes or until golden. Remove from pizza pan or baking sheet by loosening around edges; then invert onto another baking sheet. Place cooling rack on the bottom of coffee cake and turn it over so that it is right side up on cooling rack. While still warm, drizzle with Honey Glaze.

MAPLE CINNAMON FILLING:

1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl.

HONEY GLAZE:

1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoon honey
1 Tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon Maple Flavoring

Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl.

Thank you so very much for following this "12 Days of Savings" series and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Cheers!



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