Rich Coffee Cake Dough

Name: Rich Coffee Cake Dough
Yield: Serves 16 to 20 (Makes enough for 2 small cakes)
Ingredients: 2 packages, dry active yeast (4 1/2 scant teaspoons); 1/4 cup, water (warm, 110 to 115 degrees); 1/2 cup, granulated sugar; 4 , large eggs; 2 tablespoons, milk; 1 teaspoon, vanilla extract; 4 1/4 cups, unbleached all-purpose flour; 2 1/4 teaspoons, table salt; 1/2 pound, unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into 1-inch pieces and slightly softened

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated November/December 1998

Desserts or Baked Goods

Cakes

To give this rich, breadlike coffee cake a tender crumb and a melt-in-your-mouth texture, use plenty of butter, mix the dough very thoroughly, and make sure you let it rise twice.

SERVES16 to 20 (Makes enough for 2 small cakes)

TIME40 minutes, plus 2 to 3 hours rising and 4 hours chilling

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Because the coffee cake recipe we envisioned was to be light yet rich, with a brioche-type texture, we knew that it would need a relatively high proportion of eggs (we settled on four). We were after richness without heaviness, and this was...

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