How To: Make Coffee Cake with Chef Hubert Keller

Watch Chef Hubert Keller whip up a coffee cake that will fill your house and taste buds with the comforting aromas and flavors of cinnamon and sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 package dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup cold milk
• 1 large egg
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4-1/2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-2/3 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup raisins or dates, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 3/4 cup pecans
• 1-1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

1. Fill a bowl with 2 cups of warm water, and dissolve yeast and half of sugar into it. Let this mixture sit until it becomes foamy.
2. Place sour cream, milk, egg, and vanilla into a bowl. Whisk and then pour into the bowl with the yeast.
3. Process flour, butter, salt, and other half of salt in food processor, using the dough blade. While the machine is still running, add the liquid ingredients through the feed tube slowly, allowing the flour to absorb them.
4. After a dough texture has formed, process for an additional 40 seconds in order to knead it. Shaping the dough into a ball, store it in a lightly floured plastic bag. Make sure to squeeze out the air before sealing so that there is room for the dough to rise. Let dough sit for 1 hour in a warm place.
5. Divide dough in two and then roll each half out onto a lightly floured surface. You want to end up with 15 x 12-inch rectangles. Brush each with melted butter, and then do the same to the inside of a pan.
6. Switching to the metal blade, chop sugar, dates or raisins, pecans, and cinnamon until coarse (usually takes 45 seconds). Spread the filling over the dough and then roll it out, jelly-roll fashion, from the long side.
7. Using a sharp knife, cut each roll into 9 equal slices, place each in pan, cut sides up and let rise until doubled.
8. Preheat the oven to 375°F, bake coffee cake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.