Bavarian Coffeecake

I remember getting my first bread machine and the thrill of finally being able to make edible yeast bread.  For awhile there I was making a loaf or two a week. I made all kinds of crazy concoctions, and most of them I liked. The "delay timer" enabled us to wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread and come home to freshly made pizza dough.  I was so enamored of the bread machine that I bought one for my Mom and sister for Christmas one year (they weren't so enamored-ODD!). My daughter Abby has grown up with homemade bread, pizza crust, foccacia, and coffeecakes.  This  year she asked for a bread machine for Christmas.  My mother gave her one--and no, it wasn't the one I had given her years ago (although hers is still in mint-dare I say unused?-condition.) One of my favorite bread machine cookbooks, and the source for this recipe, is "Bread Machine Magic" published in 1992. My paperback copy has been used so much it no longer has a cover or spine and has to be held together with a rubber band.  This coffeecake is delicious...sugary, cinnamonny, and creamy...all the best parts of a cinnamon roll without the extra work and the extra pound of butter. (Recipe makes 1 1/2 lbs dough)

Bavarian Coffeecake

3/4 cup of approx 1/2 water and 1/2 milk or buttermilk
1 egg
3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar mixed with 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup heavy cream

Place water/milk mixture, egg, flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in pan of a bread machine. Press "dough" setting and "start".  Remove dough from bread machine when machine beeps and place in a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan.  Pat the dough to fit.  Cover pan with a clean kitchen cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled (usually 45 - 60 minutes).  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With two fingers punch deep holes all over dough.  Sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mixture evenly over the dough (and into the indentations).  Drizzle cream over top and into indentations (you may decide to punch a few more holes at this point).  Place in preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly, and serve warm. Eat quickly.  This coffeecake looses most of its magic after a few hours.

Thanks for being a fan,
Polly