Author Notes
Growing up, my Christmas breakfast memories are of two distinctly different traditions. When we stayed in New York, a traditional Jewish breakfast (Dad's Jewish and we can't keep our hands off this breakfast either) of bagels, smoked/baked salmon, cream cheese and the works of thinly sliced red onions and tomatoes. If we weren't in NY we were in my mom's hometown of a suburb outside of Cincinnati, Ohio with her family. Christmas morning meant one thing...a table full of my grandmother's baked creations rounded out with eggs (which I despised) and bacon or sausage. Her breakfast cakes were almost always yeast based and this was one was of her mainstays and a recipe that came from her mother. The cake itself is not very sweet, it gets that from the topping. My grandmother started making it with shortening (a sign of the 1950's), I brought it back to it's butter roots. - testkitchenette —testkitchenette
Test Kitchen Notes
Delightfully warm, sweet and yeasty, this breakfast treat is somewhere between fluffy bread and cake. The simple, crumbly topping adds just the right hint of spice. Try serving it warm with a little bit of butter and jam for an extra-special holiday treat. - Stephanie —The Editors
Ingredients
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1/4 cup
butter, softened
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1/4 cup
plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
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1 teaspoon
salt
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1/2 cup
warm water
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1 packet
dry yeast
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1/2 cup
milk, scalded and cooled to warm
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1
beaten egg, room temperature
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3 1/2 to 4 cups
all purpose flour (I have used whole wheat pastry flour with great results)
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1/3 cup
sugar for streusel topping
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1/2 cup
flour for streusel topping
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3 tablespoons
butter for streusel topping
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1 teaspoon
cinnamon for streusel topping
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Pinch
salt for streusel topping
Directions
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Grease two 8-inch cake pans with butter.
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Dissolve the packet of yeast in the water with the 1 teaspoon of sugar in a measuring cup.
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Cream the butter and remaining 1/4 c. sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the yeast, water, and sugar mixture and 2 cups of flour.
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Add the scalded milk and egg. Then add the rest of the flour and mix or knead well.
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Cover with a towel and let rise for 20 minutes. Put into the refrigerator and let rise until doubled, about three hours.
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Preheat the oven to 375 F. Distribute the dough between the two prepared greased cake pans, being sure to press the dough all the way out to the corner of the pan.
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Make streusel topping. Combine sugar, flour, butter, salt, and cinnamon together with your hands, two forks, or pastry blender until crumbly. Divide between the cakes pans, covering the cakes evenly. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
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