YEAST CAKES RECIPES RECIPES

Steps:

• Sponge: In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and yeast. Stir in flour with a wooden spoon and set aside until mixture is fully alive with billions of beautiful bubbles, about 20 minutes.
• Dough: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl and add flour and salt. Beat on low until a crumbly dough forms.
• Scrape down bowl once more and add sponge. Switch to dough-hook attachment and beat on medium-low until dough gathers around hook and mostly cleans sides of bowl, 6 to 8 minutes. Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently to form a ball. Return to mixer bowl, cover with beeswax wrap or plastic, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, play a few rounds of gin rummy.
• Filling: In a small bowl, whisk together oil and flour until combined to make the "pan goo". (This mixture can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 weeks). Generously brush a 10-inch tube pan with pan goo; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together granulated sugar and cinnamon. In another small bowl, toss fresh blueberries with flour. With floured hands, punch down dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Dust top of dough with flour and roll out into a 14-by-18-inch rectangle, with a long side facing you. Brush with about 2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle evenly with cinnamon sugar, fresh and dried blueberries, and pecans.
• Starting on one of the long ends, roll dough into a tight spiral, lifting and tugging to capture all nuts and berries. Gently place in prepared pan, seam-side down, and overlap ends. Brush with remaining butter, including in area between overlapping ends of dough. Cover pan with beeswax wrap or plastic and place in a warm spot to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• At least 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350°F, with a rack in lower third. Lightly beat together egg and salt. When dough has risen, brush top of cake with beaten egg and sprinkle liberally with pearl sugar. Cut slits in dough on the bias, about 1 inch deep, using kitchen shears.
• Bake until cake is deep golden brown and firm to the touch, and a thermometer inserted in center registers 200°, 60 to 70 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack. Let cake rest in pan 15 minutes, then carefully flip out and invert again onto rack; let cool completely.
• Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and about 1 tablespoon milk. Continue adding milk by the teaspoonful until it forms a glaze that coats the back of a spoon. Drizzle over cake in diagonal swaths. Slice with a serrated knife to serve.

Steps:

• In a saucepan over very low heat, warm up 1/2 cup of milk to no more than 100 degrees F (38 degrees C); stir in 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Crumble the cake yeast into the milk mixture, and gently stir until the mixture becomes creamy. Cover the pan with a cloth, and set aside in a warm place until the yeast forms a spongy texture, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Melt margarine in a saucepan over low heat; remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
• Place eggs and 1 1/8 cup sugar into a blender, and process until the mixture is yellow and fluffy. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 8 cups of flour with vanilla sugar. Stir in the egg mixture, activated yeast mixture, and lukewarm margarine; start kneading 1 cup milk, or as needed, into the dough, a little at a time, until the dough stops sticking to your fingers and becomes smooth and even. Knead for at least 15 minutes, working to incorporate as much air as possible into the dough as you knead.
• Press the dough evenly into the prepared baking sheet, and arrange the plums over the top of the dough. Set aside.
• In a bowl, cut together 1 1/2 cup flour, the butter, and 1/2 cup of sugar with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs; sprinkle the streusel mixture over the plums. Dust streusel with cinnamon, if desired.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.