Moravian Sugar Cake
An easy recipe for Moravian Sugar Cake. The recipe is my version of one originally from Richard Sax plus notes from a Moravian friend.
Servings 16 slices
Cost 5
Ingredients
- ½ cup lukewarm milk, divided use (114 grams)
- 4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided use (60 grams)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (380 grams)
- ½ cup mashed potatoes (instant or unseasoned homemade)
- 2 large eggs at room temperature (100 grams)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (84 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Topping
- ¼ cup brown sugar (60 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled (I recommend salted) (56 grams)
Instructions
- Combine ¼ cup of the warm milk, the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand until yeast is foamy.
- Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar, 1 ½ cups (half) of the flour, mashed potatoes, eggs, melted butter and salt and mix well by hand until you have a loose and sticky mixture.
- Add the remaining flour and continue mixing to make a shaggy dough. Put the bowl on the stand mixer stand and mix with the dough hook (paddle is okay, but the dough hook works well since this is thick) for about 2 minutes until smooth and just slightly sticky. It should cling to the hook and the bottom of the bowl. We're not trying to develop the gluten, so this is just a quick knead and the dough should still be very soft and sticky.
- Scrape dough from the sides of the bowl and push it all to the center, then cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
- Grease two 8-inch square pans or two 7x11 inch pans or one 15x10 inch pan. You can use metal pans or two disposable foil pans.
- Punch down the risen dough and divide it between the two pans (about 14.5 oz dough in each pan. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until it puffs up quite a bit and comes almost to the top of the pan. Don't worry too much about over-proofing. If you used active dry yeast, this should take about an hour and a half.
- Dip your finger in some melted butter and poke dimples all over the bread, going almost to the bottom. For a more wavy look, elongate the dimples slightly.
- Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle a little over half of this mixture evenly over the dough and into the dimples. Drizzle evenly with half of the ¼ cup of melted salted butter directing it into your holes. Let it drip down in there, then, then let stand for 10 minutes. Drizzle remaining butter over the top and sprinkle on all the remaining sugar.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread is around 195 degrees F or up to 200 F.
- Serve warm or let cool and serve later. You can also freeze it.