6F tradition calls for us to write up a list of the stuff we want, as well as the restaurant of choice for dinner, and the dessert of choice as the “birthday cake.” Although we no longer all live together (which I still think is a crying shame :'( ), we try to continue this tradition as much as possible with as many people as we can get. <3 Last year, I couldn’t figure out what I wanted, but managed to narrow it down to monkeybread, cookie dough cheesecake bars, or an apple tart.
I heard mention from Diana about an “ass cake,” but she informed me that she had actually been saying, “Have you asked about the cake?” A good save, but they did admit later on that they had indeed had an “ass cake” in store for me, in honor of Cosmo. However, since Jun caught the plague and Nadia came over by way of Amtrak (which would have made cake transportation rather difficult), they made Monkeybread in my kitchen and exiled me to the family room for a “sexy pahtee” (stated with a hint of a British accent).
Monkeybread is really, really lumpy-looking (hence, the name, I guess), so they told me to pleaseplease request something smoother the following year so they could make the ass cake a reality. I’m on the opposite end of the coast for the time being though, or I would have requested kahlua cupcakes. :O
Monkeybread
Ingredients:
(Dough)
- 4 tbsp (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, divided (2 tablespoons softened, 2 tablespoons melted)
- 1 cup milk, warm (around 110 degrees)
- 1/3 cup water, warm (also around 110 degrees)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 package or 2 1/4 tsp rapid rise, instant or bread machine yeast
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
- 2 tsp table salt
(Brown Sugar Coating)
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick or 4 ounces), melted
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 200°F–when oven reaches 200, turn it off. Butter the pan with 2 tbsp softened butter and set it aside.
- (Dough) In a large measuring cup, mix the milk, water, melted butter, sugar, and yeast together.
- Mix the flour and salt in large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture, then add milk mixture to the well. Using a wooden spoon, stir until dough becomes difficult to stir. Put it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth (~10 min). Shape into a ball.
- Coat a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Put the dough in the bowl and coat surface of dough with more cooking spray or oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until dough doubles in size (~1 hour).
- (Brown Sugar Coating) Place melted butter in one bowl and mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a second one.
- (Bread) Flip the dough onto a floured surface and gently pat into ~8-in. squares.
- Roll each piece of dough into ball. Working one at a time, dip balls in melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into bowl. (A fork would be helpful!) Roll them in the brown sugar mixture, then layer balls in pan, staggering seams where dough balls meet as you build layers.
- Cover pan tightly with plastic wrap and place in turned-off oven until dough balls are puffy and have risen 1 to 2 inches from top of pan (50-70 min.).
- (Baking) Remove pan from oven and heat to 350°F. Unwrap pan and bake until top is deep brown and caramel might begin to bubble around edges (~30-35 min).
- Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out on platter and allow to cool for ~10 minutes.
