Orange Coffee Ring Recipes

SWEDISH TEA RING (COFFEE BREAD)

Steps:

• Heat the milk, add the butter and sugar, then the yeast and egg: Pour milk into a small saucepan and heat on medium heat until steamy (but not boiling). Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and sugar until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved. Pour into a mixing bowl. Mix in yeast mixture and the egg.
• Add the spices, then gradually add the flour: Mix in the salt and cardamom. Slowly add in 2 cups of the flour. After the first two cups, gradually add more flour until a soft dough starts to form into a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
• Knead the dough: Turn out onto a floured surface and knead dough for 7 to 10 minutes until smooth, OR use a dough hook in a stand-up mixer and knead the dough for 7 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep the dough from being too sticky. Note: the dough should remain soft, so take care not to add too much flour.
• Let the dough rise and double in size: Place the dough in an oiled bowl, covered with a clean tea-towel or with plastic wrap. Let rise for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Make 2 simple braids, or form 1 filled wreath: At this point you can make a simple braided bread if you want (2 loaves), by punching the dough down, dividing the dough in half, and then dividing each half into three equal parts, rolling the dough pieces into ropes, braiding them, and tucking the ends under. Or you can get more fancy, which is what we've done here, with a filling, and forming the dough into a wreath shape. The following directions are for the wreath form.
• Divide and flatten the dough into 2 rectangles: Press the dough down to deflate it a bit. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Take one part (saving the other for wreath number 2) and use your fingers to spread it into a 8-inch by 16-inch rectangle on a lightly floured, clean, flat surface. If you are having difficulty getting the dough to keep its shape, just do what you can and let it sit for 5 minutes before trying again. Like pizza dough, the dough needs time to relax while you are forming it. Brush the dough with melted butter, leaving at least a half-inch border on the edges so the dough will stick together when rolled.
• Make the filling and fill the dough: Mix together the brown and white sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle the dough with half of mixture (saving the other half for the second batch of dough). Sprinkle on more fillings, as you like, such as raisins, slivered almonds, or almond paste. You could even sprinkle on some cream cheese for a creamier filling.
• Carefully roll the dough and form a ring: Carefully roll the dough up lengthwise, with the seam on the bottom. Carefully transfer to a greased baking sheet. Form a circle with the dough on the baking sheet, connecting the ends together to make a ring.
• Cut the dough and shape the wreath: Using scissors, cut most of the way through the dough, cutting on a slant. Work your way around the dough circle. After each cut, pull out the dough segment either to the right or to the left, alternating as you go around the circle. The dough circle will look like a wreath when you are done. Repeat the steps with the rest of the dough, to form a second wreath.
• Let the shaped dough rise: Cover the wreaths lightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm area for a second rise. Let rise for about 40 minutes to an hour; the dough should again puff up in size.
• Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Brush the dough with egg wash and bake: Whisk together the egg yolks and cream. Use a pastry brush to brush over the dough. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes of baking, if the top is getting well browned, tent with some aluminum foil.
• Cool, then drizzle with optional glaze: Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Meanwhile, whisk together the powdered sugar and water to create a final glaze (optional). Add more water if the glaze is too thick to drizzle, add more powdered sugar if the glaze is too runny. Drizzle the glaze in a back and forth motion over the pastry.

QUICK CARAMEL COFFEE RING

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• 2. In small saucepan, melt margarine (or butter). Coat bottom and side of ungreased 12 cup fluted tube pan with 2 tablsppons of the melted margarine/butter.
• 3. Sprinkle 3 tablesppons of the nuts over bottom of prepared pan.
• 4. Add remaining nuts, brown sugar and water to remaining margarine/butter; heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
• 5. Separate dough into 20 biscuits; cut each biscuit in half and shape into a ball. Place 20 balls in bottom of prepared pan. Drizzle half of the caramel sauce over balls. Repeat layers.
• 6. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or untill golden brown. Invert immediately onto waxed paper and remove from pan.
• 7. Good served warm. Can be pulled apart or sliced.

ORANGE COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange juice and zest. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. , Pour into a greased 9-in. square baking dish. For topping, combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter. Drizzle with butter. Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

QUICK CARAMEL COFFEE RING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a small saucepan, melt margarine. Coat bottom and sides of ungreased 12 cup fluted tube pan with 2 tablespoons of the melted margarine.
• Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the nuts over bottom of prepared pan.
• Add remaining nuts, brown sugar and water to remaining margarine. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
• Separate dough into 20 biscuits; cut each biscuit in half and shape into a ball. Place 20 balls on bottom of prepared pan.
• Drizzle half of the caramel sauce over balls. Repeat layers.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Invert on wax paper immediately and remove from pan.