Christmas Coffee Cake
A frosted holiday yeast coffee cake filled with nuts and candied fruit. Use whatever candied fruit you prefer, such as pineapple, cherries, citrus peel, raisins or cranberries.
Yield: One 10-inch coffee cake
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 cup milk
- 1 package (2¼ tsp, ¼oz, 7g) RED STAR Active Dry Yeast
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup mixed candied fruit
- ⅓ cup walnuts, chopped
For the glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 Tbsp milk
- ½ tsp almond extract
Instructions
- Heat the butter and milk in a small saucepan over low heat until butter is melted. Remove and cool for about 5 minutes, until 110-115°F. Pour mixture into a large bowl and add the yeast, sugar and egg.
- Mix in 1½ cups of the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, candied fruit and walnuts. Add in the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, mixing after each addition until incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle, about 1-inch thick. Starting with a long end, roll it up tightly. Place rolled dough on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and shape into a ring. Pinch to seal ends together.
- Use a sharp knife to make cuts two-thirds of the way into the dough every 2 inches. Twist each section so that it lies parallel to the sheet pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled again, about 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake coffee cake until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool.
- To make the icing: stir together the sifted powdered sugar, milk and almond extract. Add more/less milk to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake. Garnish the cake with additional candied fruit and walnuts.
- **You can substitute Instant (fast-rising) yeast in place of Active Dry Yeast. When using Instant Yeast, expect your dough to rise faster. Always let your dough rise until ripe. Traditional methods: use equal amounts; Bread Machine: use ½ tsp Instant Yeast OR ¾ tsp Active Dry Yeast per cup of flour in your recipe. Visit our Lessons in Yeast & Baking for more information.
- Recipe featured at Completely Delicious.
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Can you explain a little more about “Twist each section so that it lies parallel to the sheet pan.”
And what can be used besides the candied fruit? My family is not a fan of it.
Hi Laura,
Twist each sliced section so that the inner filling side lays (or is twisted towards) the pan.
For fillings, you can customize to your liking. We also have other ‘wreath’ or ‘tea ring’ recipes on our website that you can browse through. Some favorites are Chocolate Cinnamon Roll Wreath, Maple Nut Coffee Ring, and Almond Cranberry Wreath.
I hope you will find this information helpful.
Happy baking!
Carol
Can I make the cinnamon coffee cake gluten free? I have always made this as a traditional Christmas breakfast treat. Our daughter is now gluten free for life. Thank you in advance for any help with gluten free assistance.
Hi Julie,
We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, however you can experiment with the recipe. I would recommend trying one of our gluten free coffee cake recipes found here >> https://redstaryeast.com/recipes/gluten-free-recipes/.
Happy baking!
Carol