Spiral Coffee Cake/Giant Cinnamon Roll Recipes

This is not exactly a cake or should I say it's more like a giant cinnamon roll. Instead of inidividul rolls I made it into one giant roll. This awesome coffee cake with its beautiful spiral and layers of cinnamon has a texture of soft fluffy bread and not overly sweet like the usual cinnamon rolls. The dough is a joy to work with but I did encounter some minor problem along the way especially coiling up the dough. I did the coiling on the kitchen counter rather than right in baking pan. When I was done coiling I have problem picking the whole dough up as it was too heavy and soft. So if you plan to make this try doing the coiling steps in the baking pan.

Ingredients for the dough:

2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp yeast (about 7 gram)
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk - lukewarm
1/2 stick/56 gram unsalted butter - melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the glaze

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. honey

Cinnamon-Butter Filling

2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1. To Make the Dough, stir together 2 1/2 cups of the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer; set aside. In a bowl combined lukewarm milk, melted butter, vanilla and eggs together.
2. Attach the mixing bowl to the mixer, and fit the mixer with the dough hook attachment. Slowly drizzle in the milk mixture over the flour-yeast. Mix until dough comes together. At this point if the dough is too sticky you can add in the extra ¼ cup of flour by putting in 2 tbsp as a time. Resume mixing on medium speed until the dough is smooth, still soft, and slightly sticky, about 2 minutes.
3. Place the dough in a large bowl, cover the bowl securely with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 45-60 minutes. The dough is ready when a finger gently pressed into it leaves an indentation.
4. Meanwhile prepare and greased an 8” baking pan. To prepare the glaze combined brown sugar, butter and honey and cook over low heat until butter is completely melted. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and tilt the pan to cover the bottom evenly.

5. To Assemble the Coffee Cake: Gently deflate the dough. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 16 by 12-inch rectangle. Using a pastry brush spread the melted butter over the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon powder and sugar over the dough
6. Cut the dough lengthwise into 1 1/4 inch-wide strips. (A pizza cutter is helpful here.) Loosely (so the dough has some space to expands in the oven) roll up 1 strip and place it in the center of the prepared pan on top of the glaze.

7. One at a time, coil the remaining dough strips around the center strip, starting each strip at the end of the previous one, to make a single large spiral. As you roll the dough strips around the coffee cake, the butter-cinnamon side of the dough strips should be facing inside. (When you finish forming he spiral there will be some space left in the pan. The spaces around the dough will fill in as the dough bakes. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the cake rise in a warm place until it is almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

8. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degree F. Bake the coffee cake until the top is deep golden brown, about 40-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. To remove the cake, gently run a share knife around the edge, and then invert it to a serving plate. Leave the pan on the cake for 1 minute, so the glaze transfers to the cake, and then gently lift off the pan. Using a rubber spatula, scrape out any glaze remaining in the pan and spread it over the warm surface of the cake.
9. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges gently with a serrated knife. This coffee cake is best the day it is made.

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