After Dinner Dessert - Orange Coffee Cake
Yeast dough orange coffee cake is a delicious dessert perfect for after dinner.
This recipe for orange Coffee Cake is excellent as an after-dinner dessert served with coffee. Coffee Cake originates in Europe, where it was served with coffee to complement and offset its bitter taste. In the 18th and 19th centuries, coffee became increasingly entrenched in European cuisine. Various Coffee Cakes emerged in Europe, such as the German Streuselkuchen, and this recipe has some resemblance. The dough in this recipe was adapted from a vintage Coffee Cake bakery dough recipe. The original dough recipe indicates vanilla flavoring in the dough and a variant with oranges; I have worked to maintain this original aspect of the bakery recipe.
Coffee Cake Yeast Dough
As this is a yeast dough, there are several steps. The preparation needs to start a day before baking. The steps include scalded milk to alter the milk's proteins and improve the dough texture. The scalded milk cools to a warm temperature, providing an optimal environment for yeast blooming. Classical yeast dough is more complicated than chemically leavened dough, but yeast-leavened doughs have a better flavor and texture. The dough in this recipe is given overnight cold fermentation in the refrigerator for flavor development and improved texture.
Orange Dough Flavoring
Orange oil and Grand Marnier liqueur are used to flavor the yeast dough. The two are combined and then added to the dough along with the butter. The Grand Marnier's alcohol helps with the emulsification of the orange oil and adds flavorful orange notes of its own. The Grand Marnier and orange oil give very repeatable results.
Coffee Cake Crust
For this recipe, the streusel-type topping ingredients and ratios are such that they bind into a cohesive crust on the Coffee Cake. This adhesion to the top of the cake allows the cooled cake to be inverted to remove it from the pan without losing the toppings. It is a crust versus a crumble-type topping. Gluten is formed while making the yeast dough, giving structure and strength to the risen dough. This allows the topping to be pressed into, or bonded to, the dough without collapsing it before it is baked.
Yeast Dough For Coffee Cake Ingredients
Note: A scale to measure the ingredients listed with grams first is highly recommended for accuracy.
325 grams (2-1/2 cups) All Purpose Flour
2-1/2 tsp (7.5 grams) Active Dry Yeast
1 tbsp (15 grams) Vanilla Paste
½ tsp Orange Oil
1 tsp Grand Marnier liqueur
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 egg + 1 yolk
155 grams (2/3 cup) Whole Milk (See Note below)
5 tbsp unsalted butter, 3 tbsp for the dough, plus 2 tbsp to the butter cake pan.
54 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
Note: Instead of whole milk, you can substitute a 25% mixture of 2% milk (116 grams) to 75% Half-N-Half (39 grams).
Instructions For Coffee Cake Yeast Dough
In a small pot, scald the milk over medium-low heat to gently raise the temperature while stirring it as it rises to 180°F. Do not approach the boiling point, of 212°F. Use a probe digital thermometer. Pour the milk into a 2-cup glass measuring cup.
When the milk temperature drops below 120°F, add the yeast and stir. Then, put the measuring cup into a proofing oven at 90° F for 15 minutes.
Weigh the flour, sugar, and salt into a stand mixer bowl. Stir the dry ingredients by hand using a rubber spatula.
Prepare the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl by beating them together thoroughly with a fork.
Add the egg, milk, and yeast mixture to the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl.
With the mixer equipped with a spiral hook, run the mixer for 3 minutes on medium-low.
Stopping at the midpoint of the mixing process, introduce the softened butter and Grand Marnier combined with orange oil. Use a rubber spatula to help get a pre-blend of the butter and flavoring into the dough.
Re-start mixing on medium-high for an additional 3 minutes.
After mixing, place the dough ball in a buttered bowl and cover with a warm, damp, clean dish towel. Place in a proofing oven at about 90°F for 90 minutes. At this point, the dough should be about doubled in size.
During this time, coat your 8" x 8" cake pan with 2 tbsp softened butter, followed by 1/4 cup of flour. You want to generously coat the cake pan's bottom and walls. The flour can be better coated on the walls of the cake pan by covering it tightly with clear wrap and shaking the pan to spread the flour over the walls and pan bottom. Afterward, remove the clear wrap and pour any excess flour from the pan.
On a floured surface, flatten the dough and shape it into a square to fit the cake pan. Place the dough into the cake pan and form into corners uniformly.
Cover the cake pan with a clean, warm, damp dish towel and place it in the proofing oven at 90°F for 30 minutes.
After removing the pan with the dough from the proofing oven, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 24 hours. The dough should have risen more in the refrigerator.
Ingredients For the Streusel Type Topping
3/4 cup (90 grams) All Purpose flour
6 tbsp (84 grams) unsalted butter
3 tbsp (31.5 grams) brown sugar
7 tsp (31.5 grams) white sugar
1/2 tsp rum extract
3/4 tsp Grand Marnier liqueur
1/4 tsp salt
Preparing the Streusel Type Topping for the Crust
The topping is prepared using a food processor.
Place the butter in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Cold butter works much better in the food processor for a delicate granular topping to form the crust for this recipe.
Mix the two sugar types in a bowl and add the liquid, Grand Marnier, and rum extract. Work the liquid in until the mixture is uniformly damp.
Add the flour and salt to the food processor. Then, add the damp sugar mixture.
Pulse the food processor to combine the ingredients.
Cut the butter into small pieces. Slowly add small pieces of butter to the food processor while pulsing it. When completed, the mixture should be dry and grainy.
Put the topping into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
Assembling and Baking the Yeasted Dough Coffee Cake
The dough will have a firm structure that supports the pressure of firmly applying the Streusel-type topping before baking.
Remove the cake pan with the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to warm for about an hour.
Spoon some Streusel-type toppings onto the dough and work it into the corners and edges. You can apply pressure with the back of the spoon to smooth the topping.
Pour the rest of the topping on the dough, spread it with an offset spatula, and apply downward pressure.
Put the coffee cake on the middle rack of your oven that is pre-heated to 350°F and bake for 35 minutes.
Remove the coffee cake from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes.
Place a dish over the coffee cake and invert it to remove it from the pan. The cake should easily drop out of the pan, and the topping should be firmly adhered to it.
Turn the cake over with your hands and place it onto your serving surface.
Orange Coffee Cake with Yeast Dough
Orange Coffee Cake Recipe Summary
Excellent when served with coffee or Espresso; I prefer a Doppio Espresso.
You can dust the top of the coffee cake with powdered sugar after baking for appearance.
The base flavor of the coffee cake dough is a light vanilla flavor with a mild but pronounced orange flavor.
The yeast dough has a light, fluffy texture.
