Orange Pull-Apart Coffee Cake
Orange Pull-Apart Coffee Cake
I have been drooling over some gorgeous blog photos of a striated sweet bread…all were adaptations of Flo Braker’s recipe for Lemon-Scented Pull-Apart Coffee Cake. Since my hubby has a great fondness for orange rolls, I swapped the lemons for oranges in Flo’s coffee cake and created a special breakfast treat. Peeling apart the buttery layers, dripping with icing, we both immediately declared it a delicious success.
Next time I bake this, I’ll alter the icing for this Orange Coffee Cake to a simple glaze without cream cheese. But otherwise this orange pull-apart coffee cake is spectacular as is…the dough is sweet and tender, and the orange zest infuses the loaf with citrusy goodness. Check out this Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake, too!
Orange Pull-Apart Coffee Cake
Layers of dough with an orange filling are baked up into a marvelous pull apart bread!
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (one envelope)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
Filling:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
Icing:
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup (1 1/4 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Grease a standard loaf pan (mine is 8 1/2 x 4 inches).
- Mix 2 cups of the flour with sugar, yeast and salt in mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment.
- Heat milk and butter just in microwave or on stove top, just till butter is melted. Add water, then allow to cool till just warm (120-130º). Stir in vanilla.
- Pour the milk mixture into the flour and mix till flour is just moistened. Add eggs, one at a time, beating till incorporated. Stop mixer and add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour and mix on low till dough is smooth, less than a minute. Add 2 more tablespoons of flour and mix again till dough is smooth, less than a minute.
- Lightly flour work surface and knead dough for about a minute. Add up to another 2 tablespoons of flour if dough is too sticky. Place dough in lightly greased bowl, cover, and place in a warm place till doubled in bulk, about an hour.
- Mix melted butter, sugar, and zest for filling. Set aside.
- Punch down dough, then roll into a 20 x 12 inch rectangle on floured surface. Using knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into five strips...each 12 x 4 inches...use a ruler to be as accurate as possible (I trimmed some uneven edges). Spread filling over tops of each strip. Carefully stack all these strips on top of each other, so you have a stack of five 12 x 4 inch rectangles.
- Next, cut this stack into 6 equal rectangles, each two inches wide. Carefully, place each of these smaller stacks into the loaf pan, cut sides up. Cover and let rise in a warm spot till about doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350º. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on your oven, till top is browned. Cool on rack about 10-15 minutes then remove from pan to continue cooling.
- Make icing by beating cream cheese and powdered sugar till smooth. Add milk and juice, and mix till combined. Ice warm cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Adapted from Flo Braker
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 269Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 158mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 5g
43 Comments on “Orange Pull-Apart Coffee Cake”
I love pull apart bread…this sounds soooo good, Lizzy! That wonderful citrus-y note is a perfect treat in the morning 😀
Toodles,
Tammy<3
Absolutely love this cake, am so going to bake this soon!
Hi!
That is a very interesting recipe! In fact, you have loads of other interesting recipes!
Very well written blog! loved reading your posts 🙂
Joshua, your enthusiasm made me smile! Thanks!
As I started this entry and saw the pictures, I literally said out loud, “No! Shut up! That looks amazing!” Haha! Citrus. Coffee Cake. Pull-Apart. I’m sold!
You are welcome 🙂
Delicious and clever as well. I will give your recipe a try soon. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you all! I really appreciate you stopping by 🙂
Perfect. I am such a sucker for orange rolls and this looks delicious. Something about that flavor just really hits the spot.
I have never seen such pull apart cake before.. 🙂 looks very interesting and tempting 🙂
Beautiful, Lizzy – sounds fantastic. Love the cream cheese frosting too. So much nicer than a powdered sugar icing.
oh my. this looks heavenly.
Oh that looks so delicious! Pull apart bread is something I’ve never tried baking, but it looks so good I think I need to change that!
Thanks, everyone for your sweet comments…this is a great recipe!
Kim, I made them the night before…no way could I get up early enough to have these ready on a week day…but maybe on the weekend 🙂
Oh Lizzy, these looks so good. Love those flaky layers and the citrus flavor. Definitely a must try. Thanks for sharing
This looks so yummy! I think that I would enjoy the orange instead of lemon too.
What a delicious recipe!!
I’ve never seen a “pull-apart” cake like that! Ingenious! I’ll definitely be pulling this idea out soon! Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!
Thank you for coming to my blog. When I see someone likes my site, its like getting a package delivered to the door. Wonderful fun! Your pull apart bread looks positively scrumptious. The flaky layers with the orange flavor sounds perfect. I am fretting because my brother and family are coming to visit next week and I just cannot decide what to put together. Every time I go to a blog, I want to make this and that and those!
This sounds and looks beyond delicious! Love this!! And must try asap!!Great blog; happy I found you!Mary xoDelightful Bitefuls
I agree…this looks and sounds AMAZING. Those flaky layers…those citrus flavors. Thank you for sharing this loveliness tonight. I hope that tomorrow is full of happy moments, joyful conversation and plates of satisfying food!
I love your orange variation on this cake Lizzy! Maybe I should make it while we’re still technically in citrus season 🙂
Liz, I LOVE orange rolls and this looks delicious. I’m going to make this soon. Thanks.
I saw one of the cakes with lemon and now orange, delicious! Your photos are gorgeous. I’m a yeast novice looking for my next baking project, and I might have to make this one.
Love the look of this cake! So inviting!
Oh my goodness! There is nothing about this recipe i would change…i can’t wait to make it!
-abeer @ www.cakewhiz.com
Can you take one more comment Lizzy? 🙂 This looks amazing! I need to make this now!
Thank you all for the wonderful comments!!! I’m going to make this again with cinnamon and sugar…and a non-cream cheese glaze. I know that version will be fabulous, too!
Cheryl and Adam, THANK YOU!!! You are so sweet to honor me with this award!!!
How fun and what a great idea! You won’t have to spend time slicing!
Wooooow this coffee cake looks DELICIOUS! So buttery and flakey! And the frosting seems to really take it over the top! I need to save this recipe somewhere prominent so I can try this.
Dionne
Great minds must think alike 😉 I bet it tasted great with oranges!!
This look so buttery and amazing! I missed breakfast today (running late!)and this isn’t making it any easier! We’re passing on the Sylish Blogger Award to you!
This recipe does appear to be chasing me down and begging to be made. Next thing you know, it will force it’s way into my mixer, then into my oven and finally into my mouth! I love the orange variation.
Wow I love the hint of orange freshness in the coffee cake 🙂 It sounds so delightful 🙂
Tes
http://tesathome.com
Bookmarked. My husband loves orange too so I think this would be a hit. So you think next time you might make more of a glaze rather than an icing? Your pictures are gorgeous Lizzy!
Brandie
O gosh, this looks so good right now!! The hint of citrus must be delightful with the icing.
Wow Lizzy- it’s 8:00AM here, and I’m about to have my coffee but sure could use a beautiful homemade piece of coffee cake. I bet it was all gone in no time! Looks so inviting, and yummy!
Thank you, Lisa, Claudia and Carole!
Carole, you crack me up 🙂 You’ll be notified first when I do a blog post on gruel~
So funny…I have had this recipe marked since I bought Flo Brakers book. I saw Joy the Baker do a cinnamon sugar version of this yesterday and commented and now here you are! GMTA!
Your bread looks wonderful!
Sounds and looks perfect for everyday at breakfast these are my favorite flavors in the morning,also perfect for florida oranges
No, no, no! It’s the beginning of Lent and you need to post recipes for thin gruel, not tempting sweet breads. 😉 This looks delicious.
I’ve seen the lemon version, then got to thinking that an orange version of it might also be delicious. Then, what do I see when I visit your blog? Exactly what I was imagining. Thanks for the delicious recipe.