Yeasted Sugar Cake Food

BIM'S YEAST CAKE

Steps:

• Sponge: In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and yeast. Stir in flour with a wooden spoon and set aside until mixture is fully alive with billions of beautiful bubbles, about 20 minutes.
• Dough: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl and add flour and salt. Beat on low until a crumbly dough forms.
• Scrape down bowl once more and add sponge. Switch to dough-hook attachment and beat on medium-low until dough gathers around hook and mostly cleans sides of bowl, 6 to 8 minutes. Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently to form a ball. Return to mixer bowl, cover with beeswax wrap or plastic, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, play a few rounds of gin rummy.
• Filling: In a small bowl, whisk together oil and flour until combined to make the "pan goo". (This mixture can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 weeks). Generously brush a 10-inch tube pan with pan goo; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together granulated sugar and cinnamon. In another small bowl, toss fresh blueberries with flour. With floured hands, punch down dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Dust top of dough with flour and roll out into a 14-by-18-inch rectangle, with a long side facing you. Brush with about 2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle evenly with cinnamon sugar, fresh and dried blueberries, and pecans.
• Starting on one of the long ends, roll dough into a tight spiral, lifting and tugging to capture all nuts and berries. Gently place in prepared pan, seam-side down, and overlap ends. Brush with remaining butter, including in area between overlapping ends of dough. Cover pan with beeswax wrap or plastic and place in a warm spot to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• At least 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350°F, with a rack in lower third. Lightly beat together egg and salt. When dough has risen, brush top of cake with beaten egg and sprinkle liberally with pearl sugar. Cut slits in dough on the bias, about 1 inch deep, using kitchen shears.
• Bake until cake is deep golden brown and firm to the touch, and a thermometer inserted in center registers 200°, 60 to 70 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack. Let cake rest in pan 15 minutes, then carefully flip out and invert again onto rack; let cool completely.
• Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and about 1 tablespoon milk. Continue adding milk by the teaspoonful until it forms a glaze that coats the back of a spoon. Drizzle over cake in diagonal swaths. Slice with a serrated knife to serve.

YEASTED APPLE COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Cake:
• Butter a 13x9" shallow baking dish. Mix yeast, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, and 1/4 cup warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer; let sit until it foams, about 5 minutes. Whisk in egg and remaining brown sugar, then stir in 1 cup flour and mix with a wooden spoon to incorporate. Sprinkle remaining 2 cups flour over top but do not mix in. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm, draft-free spot until mixture is visibly puffed and flour has cracks in places, 60-90 minutes.
• Add sour cream, orange zest, orange juice, baking powder, and salt to mixture and mix on medium speed with dough hook until smooth, elastic, and just sticking to the sides of bowl, about 4 minutes. Add 6 Tbsp. butter in 2 additions, beating well between additions; beat until a soft, slightly glossy, sticky dough-batter hybrid forms, about 4 minutes.
• Using buttered fingers, pat dough into prepared pan in an even layer, spreading to edges. Cover and let sit in a warm, draft-free spot until puffed and nearly doubled in size, 60-70 minutes.
• Streusel and assembly:
• Just before dough is finished rising, preheat oven to 350°F. Pulse flour, oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a food processor a few times to combine. Add butter and process in long pulses until streusel is the consistency of moist crumbs.
• Working with several slices at a time, fan out apples slightly and arrange over dough, shingling rows in different directions; sprinkle streusel over top. Bake until apples are tender and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
• Whisk powdered sugar, orange juice, and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl, adding more orange juice by the teaspoonful as needed, until icing is very thick and smooth and falls back onto itself in a slowly dissolving ribbon. Drizzle over coffee cake.

GERMAN PLUM CAKE WITH STREUSEL (ZWETSCHGENKUCHEN)

Steps:

• Heat milk in a pot at medium heat. Pour half of the milk in a jar. Put the butter in the remaining milk in the pot. Stir occasionally until butter has melted. In the meantime add 1 tablespoon sugar and yeast to the jar with lukewarm milk. Stir well and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let the milk - butter mixture cool.
• Combine the flour, the remaining sugar, egg and salt in a bowl. Then pour in the yeast - sugar mixture. Start mixing, while adding the lukewarm milk - butter mixture slowly until you have a smooth dough. Put the dough on a lightly dusted surface area and knead for 10 minutes with your hands. Put the dough back in the bowl (you don't have to dust the bowl or grease it, because the dough has a great texture and it doesn't stick), Cover with kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 2 hours at room temperature.
• Put water in a bowl and wash the plums very well. Drain them and let dry for a couple of minutes. Take one plum at a time, (hold it with one hand) turn it upside down, such that the side with the stem is facing down. Cut from top lengthwise in a cross form until the middle part of the plum. Extend just one cut to the bottom. Open the plum at the side with the longest line and remove the pit. In the end end you should have a plum with interconnected quarters. Repeat the process until you have used up all the plums. You could also use a plum stoner if you have one. In this way the plums will stay better on the cake and won't slide off while baking. Plus your plum cake will look beautiful afterwards. Wash your hands, dry them and grease the baking sheet with butter, then line it with a parchment paper and set aside.
• In a bowl combine flour, sugar and butter. Using your hands mix all the ingredients together until small crumbles start to form. Preheat the oven to 180 ° C (356 °F), with both top and bottom heat.
• Place the dough on a lightly floured silicone pastry mat or cutting board. Slightly flour the dough and roll it with a lightly floured rolling pin into a rectangle form (about 30 x 35 cm/ 12 x 14 inches). Using both hands lift up the dough and put on the baking sheet that you previously prepared. Arrange plums very close to each other on the rolled out dough with the cut side facing up, as shown on the photos. If you have some leftover plums once you're done arranging them on the rolled out dough, just divide them with your hands and fill the sides with openings. Sprinkle with sugar and ground cinnamon over the top of the plums. Then sprinkle the crumbles evenly and bake for 40 minutes.

ZWETSCHGEN DATCHI (BAVARIAN PLUM CAKE)

Steps:

• For the crust: Mix the fresh yeast with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and reserve. Mix into the hot milk the remaining sugar, salt, oil, butter, vanilla sugar and half of the cake flour in a bowl of a kitchen aid mixture or food processor, mix at low speed for 1 minute. Add the egg. Add the yeast/sugar mixture. Add the remaining cake flour and mix well at low speed until all ingredients are incorporated. Let rise at a warm place until dough doubles. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to fit a 12 by 17-inch cake pan, which is lightly buttered and dusted with flour.
• For the topping: Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Sprinkle hazelnut flour over the dough. Cut the plums open but not in half, remove the pit and cut a small insert into the top. Layer standing on top of the dough. Mix sugar, cinnamon, and bread crumbs and sprinkle over the plums. Top with almonds and butter. Bake on the second shelf from the bottom for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 360 degrees in a regular oven or for 45 minutes at 300 degrees in a convection oven. Let cool, serve by itself, or with whipped cream, ice cream, or cinnamon creme fraiche.

BLUEBERRY YEAST CAKE

Steps:

• Whisk together the water and yeast.
• Add sugar, salt, eggs, butter, skim milk powder and most of flour.
• Stir to make a batter-like mixture.
• Fold in blueberries. Add the remaining flour as necessary to form a thick batter. How much if at all will depend on humidity and the amount of moisture in your berries.
• Cover bowl with a tea towel and let batter rest 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, generously grease a 9 or 10-inch angel food cake pan.
• Pour batter in (after rest).
• Cover pan lightly with greased wax paper and let batter rise until it nearly reaches the top of the pan.
• Drizzle on melted butter and dust with sugar and cinnamon.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Place cake pan on a baking sheet and place in oven.
• Bake until nicely browned (about 40 minutes).
• Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

YEASTED CHOCOLATE COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Make the cake: Sprinkle yeast and a pinch of granulated sugar over milk in a medium bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, the egg, and yolk. Whisk into yeast mixture.
• Combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a mixer. Add egg mixture. Beat on low speed until almost fully combined, about 30 seconds. Switch to the dough-hook attachment. Add butter. Beat until smooth, soft, and slightly sticky, about 10 minutes.
• Butter a large bowl. Turn out dough onto a floured surface; knead a few times until smooth. Place in bowl, turn to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Make the filling: Combine chocolate, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or rub in with your fingers until combined.
• Punch down dough. Transfer to a floured work surface. Let stand for 5 minutes. Roll out to an 18-inch square (about 1/8 inch thick). Brush edges with egg wash. Spread filling over dough, reserving 1/2 cup and leaving a 1-inch border. Tightly roll dough like a jelly roll. Pinch seam to seal, and fold in half to bring ends together to form a U. Twist 2 or 3 times to "braid." Butter a 5-by-10-inch loaf pan, and line with parchment, leaving 1-inch overhangs; butter parchment. Transfer dough to pan. Brush top with egg wash.
• Make the crumb topping: Combine confectioners' sugar, flour, and butter. Sprinkle topping and reserved 1/2 cup filling over cake.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drape plastic wrap over dough. Let stand in a warm place until risen by half, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Remove plastic wrap, and bake, rotating halfway through, until golden, about 55 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until deeply golden, 15 to 20 minutes more (cover with foil if top gets too dark). Transfer pan to a wire rack. Let cake cool.

YEASTED SUGAR CAKE

Steps:

• Stir the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar into 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Combine the flour, remaining sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the yeast, milk, and eggs and beat until smooth. Add the butter and beat vigorously until the batter is silky. Scrape down the sides, then cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes
• Lightly butter a 9-inch tart pan or cake pan. Stir down the dough, turn it onto a lightly floured counter and gently shape it into a disk. Set it in the pan and flatten it with your hands. Rub the softened butter all over the top, then cover with the sugar, using all of it. Let rise for 30 minutes. during the last 15 minutes, preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Bake the cake in the center of the oven until well risen and the sugar has begun to melt and brown, about 25 minutes. The surface should be covered with cracks. When done, let it cool briefly, then unmold and serve, still a little warm, with fruit and softly whipped cream.
• Variations: Add 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest to the batter along with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon crushed anise seeds. A half cup of finely ground almonds and a drop of almond extract are also good additions.

CHOCOLATE YEASTED CAKE

Steps:

• Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a medium-large bowl. Stir to blend, and then let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Mix in the milk and 1 1/2 cups of the flour; whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until light and spongy, about 45 minutes.
• Using an electric mixer, preferably stand, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until totally incorporated. Add the yeast mixture and vanilla and beat until blended.
• In another bowl, whisk together the remaining flour, the baking soda, and the salt until fluffy and blended. Add this flour mixture to the batter in 3 additions, alternating with the melted chocolate and beginning and ending with the flour. With the last flour addition, add the mini chocolate chips and mix until completely blended. Finish by hand, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Generously butter a 10 inch tube pan and scrape the dough into the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until light and foamy, but not quite doubled. After 40-60 minutes (depending on how fast it seems to be rising), preheat your oven to 350°F Bake until the sides pull away from the edges and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for at least 20 minutes. Use a thin knife to gently loosen the edges before inverting and removing. After it cools, wrap it securely with plastic wrap or store in a cake keeper.