House of Bread

There are few things that can please our families’ sense of smell more that the fragrance of fresh bread in the oven. Bread is a staple food in much of the world, but it also has a special place on our tables at Christmas time. In our family, Christmas morning means getting up to read the Christmas story together, with a cup of tea, Christmas oranges and homemade yeast coffee cake. Jesus, the Bread of Life, was born in Bethlehem, the “House of Bread.” It’s fitting make a special loaf or two at this wonderful time of year!

This is a recipe that my mother made throughout my childhood and it is one that our children look forward to each Christmas season. We call it “Coffee Cake” although it’s different than most recipes, because it’s made with yeast. Don’t be shy to try making things with yeast. It’s actually pretty fun to get your hands right into the dough to make this special treat.

To begin, use a good recipe for homemade buns. This one has been tried and true in our family for years!


2 Hour Buns (that means from start to finish!)

3 cups warm water
¼ cup canola oil
½ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
2 Tbsp Fermipan yeast (instant yeast)

7-10 C flour (I use a combination of flours – whole wheat, spelt and unbleached white. You choose your own)

In a large mixing bowl, add the first 6 ingredients together in the order listed.
Mix together.
Begin stirring in flour (with a big spoon) 1 Cup at a time until it becomes too thick to stir.

Now for the fun!

On a well-floured counter-top, dump the dough and begin to knead. Continue to add flour until the dough looks like the following picture – smooth and elastic.

Put the big lump of dough back in the bowl and allow to rise. Cover with a clean tea towel. When it has risen to the top of the bowl, punch it down. Allow it to rise 3 times in total, punching it down between each rising. (Be sure that the dough isn’t in a cool or drafty place. A great place to allow bread to rise is in the oven with the light on. I rarely do this, because when I bake, I like to multi-task and usually have a few things baking at once so my time is used well. That’s up to you!)

In order to turn this into coffee cakes, grease large pie plates or round cake pans and form dough to fill it to just over half the size of the pan. Cover until it has doubled in size. Then add the topping.


Topping:

½ cup soft butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Mix this together with your fingers until you have a smooth, sweet paste. Take your sweet hands and lightly press the topping across the risen dough. Use enough to cover the majority of the dough. If you need to poke a couple of holes in the dough it’s OK. It will just mean a particularly delicious bite for someone, once it’s baked. I’m not a natural “measurer”, if you run out of topping, mix up a little extra. It all depends on how much of this dough you choose to use for “coffee cakes”.


Bake this in the oven on a middle rack for 20 – 25 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Once you have formed the coffee cakes, you can decide if you wish to use the remaining dough to make buns, cheese buns or cinnamon buns. (These coffee cakes taste like cinnamon buns, but are much easier to make!) If you make buns, just cook them for 18 minutes.

Take the baking out of the oven and allow cooling on racks. These freeze well, so you can prepare them ahead of time if you wish. Your family will be blessed, I promise! Neighbours and friends will also be happy recipients if you choose to give some away – but be certain your family get to be the first partakers!

Bless you,
Anne