Bavarian Sugar Cake
Posted by: Jerseygirl Wed, 17 Mar 2004, at 6:43 a.m.
 

The following cinnamon-y, velvety yeast "cake" is drizzled with cream and sugar before baking -- fattening but yummy. This cake isn't cloyingly sweet, but is very tender. Serve it with coffee, at breakfast or as a mid-morning or mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

Dough

1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
4 teaspoons special instant yeast

Glaze

1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup heavy cream

Place all of the dough ingredients into the pan of your bread machine, program the machine for the dough or manual cycle, and press start.

Check the dough with about 10 minutes remaining in the final kneading cycle, and adjust the consistency by adding flour or water as needed; the dough should be fairly sticky and slack. When the machine has completed its cycle, remove the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface.

Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan. Press the dough into the prepared pan with your fingers, stretching it to cover the bottom of the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise until it's doubled in bulk, 30 to 45 minutes. With two fingers, punch deep holes all over the dough. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle it over the dough. Drizzle the cream evenly on top.

Bake the cake in a preheated 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, and serve it warm from the pan.

Yield: 12 servings.