Overnight Coffee Loaves

So, last week I had a pretty important birthday.

Watch out New York City! You just gained another 30 year old female! I was very excited to leave my 20s behind. Not that they were bad. But I think there's something great about being in your 30s in NYC. I guess I just feel that this city caters to a slightly older crowd.

 

Speaking of catering to crowds, I baked up a storm to feed my friends for my birthday party! (I'll be posting all my baked goods this week, so keep your eyes out for everything.)

 

To usher in my 30s I decided to give back to my favorite city. I held a two part party. First part was picking up trash in Astoria Park. Second part was meeting at a bar. Those friends who volunteered were treated to a free happy hour on me. Those who decided to not volunteer and just meet at the bar paid for their own drinks. People really enjoyed this concept and everyone understood the rules.

 

Well, I couldn't have people picking up trash on an empty stomach now could I?

 

Since I had taken some days off of work to celebrate my birthday, I decided that I finally had enough time and I was finally mature enough to make Overnight Coffee Loaf.

 

You see, this is from my Mom's Favorite Recipes Cook Book. And all of my siblings and I LOVE this bread. So, I had some trepidations about making it. This bread had a lot of history behind it and I didn't want to mess it up.

 

Guess what. Within the first steps of the recipe I was a mess.

Thus, the bread turned out FANTASTIC.

I was fortunate enough to have a friend over who got to taste test it with me right when it came out of the oven. It was to die for. We ate a whole mini loaf. (I couldn't find my other loaf pan so I improvised. See below.)

I was very excited to share it with my volunteers before picking up trash. Too bad it was a gloomy and somewhat cold day. This bread is just so much better warm than cold. Nobody had a problem eating it though. :) And tons of trash was picked up! (Must have been the boost of sugar that helped. Here's a little bit of the trash that was found.)

Yes, that's a prescription bottle on the bench filled with lithium. Found. In. A. PARK! Eek!

So, as you can see, the first part of my birthday party was a success. Many of my friends told me that they didn't expect to have so much fun picking up trash. Ha!

Second part of party and more recipes from my birthday week to come. For now, here's the recipe for this delicious bread.

Overnight Coffee Loaf (from my Mom's Best Recipes Cook Book)
Makes 2 loaves of bread

1 pkg dry active yeast (or scant 1 T)

1/4 C warm water

4 C flour

1/4 C sugar

1 t salt

1 C butter or margarine (softened)

3 egg yolks

1 C lukewarm milk, scalded and cooled

2 T melted butter or margarine

1/2 C sugar

1 1/2 t cinnamon

powdered sugar glaze (powdered sugar and milk)

Soften butter. Cut in flour, 1/4 C sugar, and salt until mixture looks like a pie crust mixture. Dissolve yeast in warm water and stir with a fork so no big lumps form. Once stirred, mix in yeast, egg yolks, and milk. Cover; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Grease 2 loaf pans. Divide dough in half; roll out each half into an oblong shape that will fit into your loaf pan length wise when rolled up. Does not need to be super thin. Brush one side of each flattened dough with 1 T melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half on each half. Roll up dough, placing seam side down in pan. Cover and let rise 2 hours; dough will not double in size. Bake 350⁰ for 1 hour. Remove from pan and let cool for a couple of minutes. Frost with powdered sugar glaze (mix 1 C powdered sugar and a tiny bit of milk.)

Erika's Extras: Add more cinnamon and sugar for a bolder cinnamon flavor in the bread.

 

Bake well and prosper!