August BBB Delight Hints at Autumn

 

The days are truly getting shorter and school started in our neighborhood yesterday, so this month's Bread Baking Babes bread, Nut Roll Coffee Cake from our Kitchen of the Month Jaime of Life's a Feast, is perfect because it has the cinnamon and nuts that hint of holiday baking to come.

I only made half the recipe, baking it in a long loaf pan, but this one is so delicious that I urge you to make the full recipe, if only so that you can share it with friends. A rich, brioche-like dough is rolled around a most unusual filling. It's a nut meringue with cinnamon and the combination is amazing. Two of those lovely rolls are stacked, one on top of the other, in a tube pan, then allowed to rise a bit. After it is baked you let it cool a little bit before removing from the pan. You are supposed to let it cool completely according to the recipe, but don't. The warm, buttery, fragrant with cinnamon bread is tender and, frankly, addictive if you eat it while it retains some of the heat from the oven.

 

The remarkable thing about this bread is that it is a no-knead one. Rolling up the bread once you have spread on the meringue filling is about the hardest part of making this. If you have done anything with a jelly roll type rolling up, it will be a snap for you. The results will bring a smile to your face...and a desire for just another piece. The finished roll didn't look pretty when it came out of the pan, and it was a little hard to cut without making a mess since it had sunk a little while cooling, but it tasted so spectacular that we didn't care a bit.

 

Thanks to Jaime for picking such a perfect recipe for August. Do check out the bread baked by the other Bread Baking Babes. I'm also sending this over to Susan (Alumnae Babe) at Wild Yeast for her Yeast Spotting round up of the week.

Last, but not least, come bake with the Babes this month. Make the bread, snap a photo, send an e-mail to Jaime with a brief description of your baking experience (plus that photo) and she'll send you a Buddy Badge and include you in the round-up.

If you have kids going to school between now and the 29th, I can assure you that they will be thrilled to arrive home to the warm fragrance of cinnamon which will perfume the house when you bake this Nut Roll Coffee Cake.

 

Here is the full recipe from Jamie:

NUT ROLL COFFEE CAKE
You will need a stand mixer or beaters to whip egg whites for the meringue filling and a 10-inch (standard) tube pan.

For the dough:
2 packages (1/4 ounce/7 g each) active dry yeast
¼ cup (@ 65 ml) warm water (110°F to 115°F)
16 Tbs (225 g) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup (125 ml) warm 2% fat/lowfat milk (110°F to 115°F)
4 egg yolks
2 Tbs sugar
¾ tsp salt
 2 ½ cups (350 g*) all-purpose flour (I use French regular flour), more as needed

* when I measure flour I spoon lightly into the measuring cup and then level off so 1 cup usually weigh approximately 140 g 

For the filling:
3 egg whites
1 cup + 3 Tbs sugar, divided
2 cups ground walnuts
2 Tbs 2% fat/lowfat milk
2 tsps ground cinnamon

The day before, prepare the dough:
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add the butter, milk, eggs yolks, sugar, salt and flour. Beat until smooth – the mixture will be sticky. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The day of baking, prepare the filling:
In a small bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar, about 2 tablespoons at a time, on high speed until the sugar is incorporated and dissolved.

In a large bowl, combine the walnuts, milk, cinnamon and remaining sugar; fold in the meringue.

Prepare the Coffee Cake:
Grease a 10-inch tube pan.

Divide the dough in half. On a well-floured work surface, roll each portion into an 18 x 12 –inch (45 x 30 cm) rectangle. Spread half of the filling evenly over each rectangle within 1/2 –inch (1 cm) of the edges. Roll each up jelly-roll style, starting with the long side; pinch seam to seal.

Place one filled roll, seam side up, in the greased tube pan. Place the second roll, seam side down.

Let rise for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 – 45 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before removing the coffee cake from the pan to a cooling rack to cool completely. Top may crack when cooling.

Eat as is or drizzle with glaze or dust with powdered sugar.