Cinnamon Sugar Heart Coffeecake

Valentine’s Day is coming up, so we wanted to make something heart-shaped to share with you. We thought about making this one, but we had no maraschino cherries. Boo.

So, we decided to make a cinnamon sugar heart-shaped coffeecake instead. I don’t usually like nuts in my coffeecakes, so we made one with just cinnamon and sugar in it and one with cinnamon, sugar, and almonds.

This was really delicious, especially when it was fresh from the oven!

To make your own heart-shaped coffeecakes, sprinkle the yeast into 1/4 cup of warm water.

Then add the milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and 2 cups of the flour.

Mix it together and beat for 3 minutes.

Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.  We ended up needing a little more flour than the recipe called for, which might have been because we substituted three egg yolks for one of the eggs.

(My mom had them in the fridge leftover from a recipe that needed three egg whites.)

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead it for 3-5 minutes.

It should look like this.

Put the dough back into the mixing bowl, cover it with a wet tea towel, and let it rise for an hour.

To make the filling, chop up almonds and mix them with cinnamon and sugar.

Since we were making one with nuts and one without nuts, we made two separate filling mixtures.

When the dough is risen, divide it in half and roll each half into a 15×10 inch rectangle.  Brush with melted butter.

And then sprinkle the filling evenly over the two rectangles.

Roll them up, starting with the long end.

This is where we ran into trouble.  The directions were a little vague, and we did one coffeecake totally wrong.  We figured it out the second time, though!

This is almost right…you put the dough onto a baking sheet, seam side up, and then fold it in half, leaving one side a little longer than the other side.

Then we realized that this was upside down-the longer part should be on top, like the next picture shows.  Then you need to cut down the middle, starting from the folded end and stopping before you get to the open end of the roll, like this:

Then you can spread out the cut parts to make a heart shape, like this:

Would you like to see our very wrong coffeecake??

Here you go:

That does not look like a heart.

And after it baked it still didn’t look like a heart.

But it tasted good!

Oh, we forgot to give you baking directions.  After you shape your coffeecakes the right way, cover them with a wet tea towel and let them rise until they’re doubled, about 30-45 minutes.  Bake them in a preheated 350° F oven for 15-20 minutes, or until they’re nicely browned.

(Kristen’s note: I wouldn’t try to bake these at the same time, because most ovens won’t have enough air circulation to properly brown two baking sheets at once.  Bake one and then put the other one in the oven.)

Cool the coffeecakes on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then put them on a cooling rack.

Mix the frosting ingredients together and drizzle the frosting over the coffeecake.  The frosting will work better if the coffeecakes are cool, but if you’re too anxious to eat the coffeecakes, you can frost them while they’re warm.

Cinnamon Heart Coffeecake

(printable version can be found at Taste of Home)
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
1 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
3/4 cup butter, melted, divided
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3-1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

ICING:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 to 6 tablespoons milk

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast and warm water.  Let stand for a few minutes.  Stir in milk, 1/2 cup of the melted butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and 2 cups of flour.  Beat on low speed to combine, then beat on high speed for 3 minutes.  Add enough additional flour to make a soft dough.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead 3-5 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.  Place dough in bowl, cover with a wet tea towel, and let rise in a warm place for one hour, or until double.

Punch dough down, divide in half, and roll each half into a 15×10 inch rectangle.  Brush with 1/4 cup melted butter. Combine filling ingredients and sprinkle evenly over each dough rectangle.  Roll up jelly-role style, starting with a long side.  Pinch seams to seal, and place each roll onto a greased baking sheet, seam-side up.

Fold each roll in half, seams together, with the top half of the roll extending 1 1/2 inches beyond the bottom half.  Using a kitchen scissors, cut down the middle of the dough, started from the folded end and stopping 1 inch before reaching the open ends of the roll.  Spread cut sections open to make a heart shape.

Cover dough with a wet tea towel and let rise 30-45 minutes, or until doubled in size.  Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool on pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.

Combine frosting ingredients and drizzle over top of cooled coffeecakes.