Braided Coffee Cake with Cardamom
This is what I think of as real coffee cake—not extraordinarily sweet and for some people not even a dessert. If you want it more cakelike, double the sugar in the dough and consider adding a couple more tablespoons of butter. But this is wonderful with a cup of coffee in the afternoon or toasted, with a little butter, in the morning. With the food processor, this dough becomes quite quick to make; just keep the processing to a minimum. You want to avoid building up the gluten in the flour so it doesn’t become tough. If you don’t feel like braiding the dough (it really is fun, though, and takes only a few extra minutes), by all means bake this in a loaf pan.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 8 or more servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Combine the flour, yeast, salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and the cardamom in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add 6 tablespoons of the butter and the egg yolks and pulse again until well combined. With the machine running, drizzle about half the milk through the feed tube. Process just until a dough ball forms, adding a little more milk if necessary, then stop. Knead a little by hand, until the dough is smooth (add a little flour if necessary), then form the mixture into a ball and place it in a buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until about doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.
Step 2
When the dough is ready, cut it into 3 pieces. On a floured board, roll each piece into a long rope just over a foot long. Braid the pieces, pinching both ends to seal. Put on a buttered cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise again for about an hour.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Chop the nuts and combine with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter (you can do this in a small food processor, but be careful not to pulverize the nuts) and the cinnamon. Brush the dough with a little milk and sprinkle the nut mixture over it.
Step 4
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool, then slice and serve.
Kulich (Russian Easter Bread)
Step 5
This is a bit more elaborate: In step 1, substitute a large pinch of saffron threads for the cardamom and add 1 tablespoon rum. When kneading by hand, add 2 tablespoons raisins, 2 tablespoons diced candied fruit, and 2 tablespoons slivered blanched almonds. To be strictly traditional, you would bake the cake in a coffee can or other cylindrical mold, and you can if you like (just make sure the mold is very well buttered). In step 3, omit the topping, but when the cake comes out of the oven, brush it with melted butter and sprinkle with granulated or confectioners’ sugar.
