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.

MORAVIAN SUGAR CAKE

Steps:

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, pour in the warm water and yeast. Stir for a minute or so to dissolve the yeast.
• Add the potatoes, salt, sugar, butter, milk eggs and about half of the flour. Mix on low until you have a smooth batter.
• Change to the dough hook, and add most of the remaining flour. Mix on low speed until combined, and then knead on medium speed for 5 minutes. Test the dough by pulling some up with your fingers. It should be very sticky and stretchy and almost-but-not-quite flow-y. If the dough doesn't have enough body, knead in the rest of the flour. Keep in mind that wetter is better than drier when it comes to yeast dough.
• Once you are happy with your dough, remove the bowl from the mixer and smooth the top of the dough with a pan-sprayed hand or spatula.
• Cover and let rise in a warm-ish place for about 1 1/2-2 hours, until doubled in size.
• Spray 2 jelly roll pans with pan spray (I made one batch with parchment-lined trays and one without. The parchment isn't necessary for this, so you can skip it if you want.
• Divide the dough in half (I weigh mine) and plop half on each of the prepared sheets. Spray your hands and the top of the dough with pan spray to keep it from sticking, and start stretching/patting/pulling the dough to fit each pan. Alternate between pans to give the dough a chance to relax and make it easier to stretch.
• Once the dough is shaped, spray it again with a little pan spray and cover with a lint-free towel or plastic wrap and let rise until puffy, about an hour.
• Set your oven racks for the bottom third and top thirds of your oven. Preheat oven to 400F (204C).
• Whisk the sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg (if using), and salt together very well.
• Once the dough is puffy, dimple the dough all over with your fingers. You don't have to be gentle--it's okay if you break holes all the way through the dough, even. Just dimple it all over very, very well.
• Liberally brush 3-4 ounces of melted butter over each cake. The butter should pool in the little dimples.
• Sprinkle half the sugar mixture evenly over each cake. Be generous--you pretty much don't want to see any dough showing through the sugar.
• Place the cakes on the racks and bake for 7 minutes.
• Switch the cakes on the racks and bake for 7 more minutes.*
• Remove to racks to cool for a few minutes.
• With a large spatula and maybe some help, slide the cakes out onto cooling racks so the bottoms don't get soggy. Slice however you think appropriate.
• Serve warm.
• Store at room temperature. If you're not going to eat all of this the same day, wrap the cakes well and freeze them.

LEMON YEAST CAKE FROM KING ARTHUR

Steps:

• Grease a 10" tube pan.
• Cake:.
• Combine 3/4 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt.
• Combine warm milk and melted butter, gradually add to flour mixture, mixing for 2 minutes.
• Add eggs, remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, and zest.
• Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.
• Spread dough evenly into pan.
• over, let rise for 1 hour.
• Towards the end of the cake's rising time, preheat oven to 375°F.
• Syrup:.
• Combine sugar and water in saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the syrup thickens.
• Add lemon juice and remove from heat.
• Bake cake for 22-25 minutes, until tester inserted into center comes out clean.
• Remove from oven.
• Brush half syrup over cake and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
• Turn out onto a rack set over parchment or a pan.
• Brush remaining syrup over newly exposed bottom crust.
• Turn cake right side up onto plate and cool completely.
• Serve with whipped cream and berries.

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.

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.