Hungarian Coffee Cake (AKA: Monkey Bread)

Once upon a time I was the girl who was always on time. Not only was I always on time, but I was early. I found that being early allowed me to read before I was actually supposed to be...wherever I was going.

That all changed when I got pregnant with Little Butt. For some reason, my timing was off. It seemed that I was always late!

Now, I have TWO kids. I still can't get over it! It's crazy!! LOL!

But it seems that I'm even more late now than I ever have been!

Take this cake for example.

I baked this cake as part of the Cake Slice Bakers group. To be honest, this post was due to be up on the 20th. Hello there 5 days late!

But what can I do?? Surely I have a good excuse right?? I mean...I do have TWO kids now. ;-)

Either way, it may be late, but at least I did it (which is more than I can say for the poor Daring Kitchen challenges. Who knows when I completed one of those!)

I have been making monkey bread for years so I wasn't TOO thrilled to be making this recipe. However, the way I make it, I start with cans of biscuits, and this cake was from scratch. I also don't add walnuts or raisins to mine.

But I didn't want to be more of a rebel than I already have been, so I made this cake. And I'm actually glad I did! It was quite delicious and I quickly had to send the cake off to my mother's house so I wouldn't eat the whole thing on my own.

The cake itself was moist and buttery while the raisins gave each piece pockets of sweetness. I am a huge fan of texture so the nuts in the cake were divine!

Making the cake was a bit tedious though. Spooning little balls of dough by threes into the bag of cinnamon and sugar became tiresome after the first 20 balls. But hey, nothing good comes easy right??

All in all, I really enjoyed this cake.

And I'm pleased to say that I have been baking with the Cake Slice Bakers for almost a year! This is our next to last cake that we are baking from this book. The new book will be revealed soon. I'm excited!!

But for now...let's get some monkey bread action on!

Whisk together the brown sugar and melted butter until the brown sugar dissolves. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the chilled butter and mix it on low until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir in the buttermilk until just combined.

Mix together some cinnamon sugar in a large zipper top bag.

Using a small scoop or spoon, place balls of dough into the bag and shake to coat the dough with the cinnamon sugar.

Toss the coated dough into a prepared bundt pan while sprinkling the nuts and raisins over the dough as you go.

Pour the brown sugar and melted butter mixture over the dough. Bake until the dough is well risen and the caramel is melted. Immediately invert the cake onto a serving platter.

Serve and enjoy!!

Hungarian Coffee Cake (AKA: Monkey Bread)
Retrieved from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman

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Ingredients:

Topping

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar

Cake

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 9 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
• 3 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons buttermilk (plus more if necessary)
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12 cup bundt pan with baking spray.
2. Make the topping: Whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until brown sugar dissolves. Set aside.
3. Dice the butter into 1/4 inch pieces. Place in small bowl and set in freezer. 
4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. 
5. Add chilled butter and mix on low speed with an electric mixer until mixture resembles course meal. 
6. Stir in the buttermilk until mixture just comes together (add extra Tablespoon or two of buttermilk if mixture is too dry).
7. Combine cinnamon and sugar in a large zipper top bag.
8. Using a small ice cream scoop or spoon, scoop balls of dough into the cinnamon sugar bag. Shake bag to coat dough. (I could only put 3 pieces at a time, otherwise the dough sticks together)
9. Place the coated dough into the prepared pan, sprinkling the walnuts and raisins over them as you go.
10. Pour the brown sugar and melted butter mixture over the dough when all the dough is in the pan.
11. Bake until the cake is firm and well risen and caramel is melted, about 35 to 40 minutes.
12. When cake is baked, immediately invert it onto a serving platter.
13. Serve and enjoy!!