This Honey Raspberry Coffee Cake is a yeast based coffee cake that is filled with honey and fresh raspberries topped with a honey glaze.
People really seem to shy away from baking with yeast in the summertime.
I get it, most don’t want to turn on the oven when it’s so hot in your house.
I think living all the years in Arizona when it was always hot most of the time I just bake whenever.
Or else back then I never would have got to bake except for a few months a year.
Luckily for me the Pacific Northwest can rarely decide what temperature it wants to be.
This week we have had a 86F day and a 66F day.
I try to take advantage of the cool days for baking but I use the warmer days to make yeast breads.
Or cake in this case…but really it’s bread.
Honey Raspberry Coffee Cake.
Yeast does really prefer to be warm and so summer is actually a great time to do it.
Now you are going to look at this recipe and say honey powder?
Yes.
You all know that I am obsessed with making recipes with freeze dried fruits.
So when Amazon gave me a suggestion of powdered honey I was intrigued.
And now I am hooked.
Just like with the freeze dried fruits the flavor is intensified.
It stores well and won’t crystalize on you over time.
I’m a big fan.
You can use frozen raspberries for this but since we are in berry season around these parts it seemed wrong not to use fresh.
Tips for Baking With Yeast:
Know the Difference in Yeast:
There are two types of yeast: Dry Active and Rapid Rise.
Dry Active yeast needs to be activated with warm liquid.
Rapid Rise can simply be added to the recipe.
Almost all the recipes on this site use Dry Active.
Don’t kill the Yeast:
You will see in all my recipes that call for yeast that if in the very first steps of activating (proofing) the yeast with the warm water (or milk or buttermilk) the yeast doesn’t froth or bubble up then to start over again.
Two things happened if your yeast did not froth or bubble up.
If your liquid was too hot and killed the yeast or your yeast has expired.
Don’t go crazy with the Salt:
Salt counteracts yeast.
You will see a small amount of salt in some recipes and a minimal amount is fine as long as you DO NOT let the salt touch the yeast.
Which simply means when you are proofing don’t add salt.
You may add salt with the rest of the dry ingredients when you continue baking.
Sugar and Starches:
While you don’t need sugar to activate the yeast it is often added for the proofing.
You do however need it in your recipe as yeast feeds off of sugar.
If you are making a non-sweet bread the yeast will feed off of the starches.
When the yeast is feeding is when you see it rise as it releases CO2 gases.
Do not think you can make your proofing or rise go faster by adding more sugar…this will not work.
Yeast is happiest between 70-80F:
You are going to get the best rise out of your yeast if you are letting the proofing and rises happen in a room with temperatures between 70 and 80 F.
If your room is colder than that then your dough will take longer to rise and you need to take that into consideration.
Same goes for if you have a very warm room.
Storing Yeast:
Yeast goes dormant at 50F, so store your yeast in the freezer and it will last longer.
P.S. It’s a great day to buy my cookbook.
Want more recipes? Try these:
Pumpkin “Cinnamon Roll” Coffee Cake
Apricot-Pineapple Cheese Braid
Honey Raspberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- For the Bread:
- 2 and 1/4 tsp/ (one packet) yeast (I used Red Star® Platinum yeast)
- 1 TBSP granulated sugar
- 2 TBSP powdered honey
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 3 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- For the Filling:
- 4 TBSP unsalted butter, super soft but not quite melted
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup powdered honey
- 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- For the Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 TBSP powdered honey
- 3 TBSP heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the dough:
- Place the yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
- Scald the buttermilk on the stove until warm to touch, about 110°F.
- Pour warm buttermilk on top of yeast/sugar.
- Whisk gently to combine, then loosely cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes.
- The mixture will be frothy after 5-10 minutes. If it does not, discard and start again as your yeast is not activated.
- Add the butter, egg, flour, and salt.
- Beat on low speed for 4 minutes.
- Knead the dough for 1 minute. If the dough is too sticky to handle, add 1-3 more TBSP of flour, but you want a very soft dough.
- Shape into a ball.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
- Place in a slightly warm environment to rise until doubled in size, about 90 minutes to 2 hours.
- Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
- Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, punch it down to release the air.
- For the filling:
- Mix together the butter, sugar, and honey.
- Set aside.
- Form the dough:
- Using a rolling pin, roll into a 12×16 inch rectangle.
- Spread honey sugar butter evenly on top. Then dot randomly with raspberries.
- Tightly roll up the dough to form a 16-inch long log.
- Place the log on its seam.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the log in half lengthwise.
- Criss-cross one half on top of the other half– forming an X. Twist the two together then coil into a circle.
- Carefully transfer to prepared springform pan (raspberries will fall out...shove em back in).
- Cover the twist with plastic wrap and rise once again in a slightly warm environment until puffy, about 45 minutes.
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position then preheat oven to 350°F
- Bake until golden brown, about 40-45 minutes. If you find the top is browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Make the Glaze:
- Whisk together all the ingredients until the glaze is smooth with no lumps.
- Carefully remove the rim of the springform pan.
- Drizzle with honey glaze.
- Slice and serve. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
The Springform Pan I used is this Anolon 9-inch that I got during #SummerDessertWeek. It's got great weight to it (I own their square one too which I love).
Irene says
Hi Peabody!
This bread looks delicious! If I substitute the powdered honey with liquid honey, can just reduce the equivalent amount of liquid where both are being used?
Have a great night.
Peabody says
I would think so but not positive.