I needed a sweet coffee cake for a celebration at my wife’s yoga studio, so I turned to “The Festive Bread Book,” by Kathy Cutler. There, facing page 68, was a delicious-looking coffee cake. I turned to page 40 and looked over the recipe. Nothing too hard about this one, except maybe the cutting and shaping, and I didn’t have to worry about that for a while. The blurb on the recipe says “This nut -filled Valentine coffee cake, especially good with breakfast or brunch, will make the day one your sweetheart will never forget. ” Okay, a little over the top, but why not?
Ingredients:
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Comments |
| Flour | 10 oz | 285 grams | All Purpose flour works here |
| Sugar | 3 Tbsp | 45 ml | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | 2 ml | |
| Dry yeast | 1 Tbsp | 15 ml | |
| Milk | 1/2 cup | 115 grams | |
| Butter | 3 Tbsp | 45 ml | Unsalted |
| Egg | 1 | ||
| butter | 2 Tbsp | 30 ml | Unsalted, melted, for brushing on dough |
For the Filling
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Comments |
| Sugar | 1/2 cup | 120 ml | |
| Walnuts | 3/4 cup | 170 ml | Chopped |
| Ground Cinnamon | 1 1/2 tsp | 7 1/2 ml |
Method
1. Combine 1 1/2 cups / 200 g flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Heat milk and butter to hot (120-130F / 50-55C) and let cool to 100F / 38C.
2. Add egg and enough milk mixture to flour mixture. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. knead lightly on a lightly floured surface or in a mixer until smooth, 10 minutes by hand, 3-4 minutes by machine.
4. Place in a greased bowl, turning the dough so it is all coated. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
5. Pour the dough out onto a very lightly floured counter top and fold it gently. Roll the dough into a 10 X 15 inch / 25 X 38 cm rectangle.
6. Combine the filling ingredients (sugar, nuts and cinnamon). Brush the dough with the melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon mixture. Starting with the wide side, roll up jelly-roll style. Pinch seams and ends when it is all rolled up.
7. Place on a greased sheet or on parchment paper. Fold half the roll over on top of the other half, sealing the ends together. Cut with scissors from the folded end down the center of the roll wo within 1 inch / 25 mm of the other end. Make a heart by turning the cut halves out with the cut side up.
8. Cover and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
9. Bake in a preheated 350F / 175C oven for 20-25 minutes or until done. Cool on a wire rack.
Here we go:
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