Almond Ring Coffee Cake

Making this Raspberry Braid a few weeks ago was a huge confidence boost for me.  I used to shy away from yeast breads, but now I feel comfortable tackling more complicated recipes.  When I saw this Almond Ring Coffee Cake in the The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book I knew I wanted it to be my next project.

This recipe has a lot of things going for it.  First – it has almond paste.  I’ve recently discovered almond paste and can’t believe how delicious it is.  Second – like the the raspberry braid it features some simple tricks that make the bread look really fancy, but aren’t especially complicated.  Third – it’s an America’s Test Kitchen recipe.  If I’m going to make something that’s time consuming I like some certainty that the recipe is a good one.  America’s Test Kitchen publishes Cooks Illustrated magazine.  They take classic recipes and test them, and test them again, and again, and again until they’re perfect.  Occasionally the recipe will involve some extra steps, but there is a reason for each step.

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Sunday Morning Cinnamon Rolls w/Cream Cheese Glaze

This past Saturday was gorgeous, unfortunately I could not say the same for its weekend counterpart Sunday. The weather report called for rain and a chill. A little bummed about what to do stuck inside on a rainy Sunday, my thoughts turned to food. What better way to brighten a rainy Sunday than with a batch of fresh, warm and gooey cinnamon rolls! Sunday brunch means happiness. There has never been a time I have not looked forward to brunch plans. You really can’t lose, the best of breakfast and lunch on the menu, lots of breads, jams, sweets and decadence.

It had been a few years since I had made these rolls and was eager to impress my friends with a fresh batch. They are fun to make, the swirls of cinnamon and sugar smell amazing, and they look very VERY impressive. The only downfall to yeasty rolls like these is the need to prepare the dough the evening before. I planned on making the dough Saturday night and leaving it in the kitchen to double in size. I’m psyched how these came out, even with a few cocktails beforehand. Unfortunately I was out of brown sugar and had to substitute white, which worked out fine. I also love raisins, so I threw those in and sliced almonds as well. You can really mess around with the filling. I’ve made these before with cocoa powder and chocolate chips as well.

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Braided Raspberry Bread

I can’t believe I made this.  When I saw this recipe posted on the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Banter blog I few weeks ago I really wanted to make it.  But I doubted I could.  I’ve only made two recipes with yeast – ever.  And this isn’t only a yeast bread, but it’s also braided.  I figured it was beyond my skill level.  But then I realized that I shouldn’t not make a recipe because it might be a failure.  What do I have to lose?  Well to be honest half of my day off and about 5 cups of flour, but I’m never going to learn to make bread if I don’t practice.  And much to my surprise it came out really well.  So good in fact, that I saved the whole loaf for me and Pat.

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