Orange Pull-Apart Coffee Cake

Why You Must Make

• This orange coffee cake is a terrific addition to your weekend breakfast or brunch menu.
• It’s a nice alternative to cinnamon bread or rolls.
• It’s an interactive treat as both kids and adults will love pulling slices from the loaf! 

Ingredient Notes

• Kitchen Staples – All-purpose flour, Sugar, Salt, Water
• Instant Yeast – I use the Red Star brand
• Whole Milk – 3½% Milk Fat. It adds more richness than low-fat milk.
• Unsalted Butter – Part will be melted for the filling.
• Orange Zest – Finely Grated
• Eggs – I use large eggs; Have them at room temperature for easier incorporation.
• Cream Cheese – At room temperature for easy blending. I use the Philadelphia brand.
• Lemon Juice – Use freshly squeezed for the best quality.
• Confectioners’ (Powdered) Sugar – Sift for the smoothest icing.

How to Make

1. Prepare pan and set aside.
2. Mix dry ingredients (only 2 cups of the flour), including the yeast, in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment.
3. Heat milk and butter, add water, then cool till warm (120-130º). Mix in vanilla.
4. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and mix until moist. Add eggs one at a time.
5. Stop the mixer, add ½ cup of the remaining flour, and mix on low till the dough is smooth, less than a minute. Add 2 more tablespoons of flour and mix again till the dough is smooth, less than a minute.
6. Lightly flour the work surface and knead the dough for about a minute. Add up to another 2 tablespoons of flour if the dough is too sticky.
7. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and place in a warm place till doubled in bulk, about an hour.
8. Mix melted butter, sugar, and zest for filling. Set aside.
9. Punch down the dough, then roll it into a 20 x 12-inch rectangle on a floured surface.
10. Using a 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 the 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.
11. Next, cut this stack into 6 equal rectangles, each two inches wide. Carefully, place each of these smaller stacks into the loaf pan, with the cut sides up. Cover and let rise in a warm spot till about doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
12. Preheat oven to 350º. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on your oven, till the top is browned.
13. Cool on rack about 10-15 minutes then remove from pan to continue cooling.
14. Make icing by beating cream cheese and powdered sugar till smooth. Add milk and juice, and mix till combined. Ice the warm cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

Verdict on this 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 is fond of 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 immediately declared it a delicious success.

You May Also Like:

• Almond Breakfast Rolls from Baked Brie
• Homemade Orange Rolls
• The Best Cinnamon Rolls
• Easy Cream Cheese Tea Roll
• All My Favorite Yeast Bread Recipes
• Plus, My Breakfast and Brunch Recipes

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!

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The Recipe:

Orange Pull-Apart Coffee Cake

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Yield 1 loaf

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

1. Grease a standard loaf pan (mine is 8 1/2 x 4 inches).
2. Mix 2 cups of the flour with sugar, yeast and salt in mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Mix melted butter, sugar, and zest for filling. Set aside.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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:

12

Serving Size:

1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 269Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 158mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 5g

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