My State Fair strategy has led to some delightful discoveries! First, I found that potato bread is both delicious and super easy to make at home. Now, I’ve found that yeasted coffee cakes are also delicious! This coffee cake has a very light texture – still cake-like, but with a little boost from the yeast to make it light and fluffy. Added moisture from the apple chunks, a brown butter cinnamon crumb on top… Pretty excellent breakfast, in my book.
This could have been another case of hubris. I’ve decided I’m making this for the Fair, and it could have turned out horrible. I would have had to re-tool. But fortunately, it turned out great. I don’t think it needs a ton of re-working. I could keep toying with it, but only because I liked it so much! It made me start thinking of all the ways I could do riffs on it. Maybe a random craving, but I think incorporating almond butter with this would be delicious.
I may swap out the type of apple I used. The red gala I used were perfectly good, but I think Granny Smith and Honeycrisp are the apples more typically used in baking. So those may bring a little extra flavor/sweetness/moisture. We shall see! I probably won’t be baking this two more times before the Big Day. I’ll just have to do more apple baking research.
Like I said before, I’m enjoying this process of baking my way through the State Fair categories. It’s revealing some hidden gems, and encouraging me to step outside my usual baking lanes! Which is, I might argue, the best think we can ask for from a baking competition!
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PinIngredients
- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 (0.25oz) package or 2 1/4 teaspoons Red Star Active Dry Yeast
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup water (120-130°F)
- 2 tablespoon butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups apples (peeled and chopped into small chunks)
Crumb
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter
Instructions
- Prepare crumb: Brown your butter, and then immediately transfer to a heat-safe bowl and allow it to cool slightly. Then, add in flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and stir until combined. Place in fridge until ready to use.
- In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, yeast, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon; mix well. Add warm water and butter to flour mixture. Add egg. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Gradually stir in apples, and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft batter. Spread batter in greased tube pan or 9-inch square cake pan.
- Sprinkle the crumb topping over the dough.
- Cover; let the cake rise in warm place about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375ºF while rising. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.
Notes
Adapted from Red Star Yeast