It's My Birthday! Cake Batter Pull Apart Bread

I originally saw this on Joy's blog, Joy the Baker.  She had done a Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread and I thought it looked delicious.

While I was searching for Cake Batter treats, I came across this recipe on Katie's blog, What Katies Baking based on Joy's recipe...  I loved the idea.

And it's treat number 3.

Here's what you do.

Whisk together flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Set aside.

Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium low heat, combine the milk and butter and heat until the butter is melted.

Remove from the burner and add the vanilla and water.  Let cool until about 115 - 125 degrees F.

Add the milk mixture to the dry mixture and stir using a spatula. 

Add the eggs and stir.

Then add the cake mix.

The mixture will be sticky, but that's okay.

Pour into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a towel.  Let rise for one hour.

While the dough is rising, make the crumble filling.

Mix together milk powder, flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt.  Add melted butter and stir until well mixed.

On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spread the mixture on the parchment paper and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until dry and crumbly.

This is where I kind of stumbled.  I don't think I spread this mixture thin enough, so it took a lot longer than 10 minutes to bake out.  I just pulled it out once I thought it was ready.

After it's finished baking, add more milk powder and melted white chocolate and mix well.

Set aside.

When the dough is done rising, add two tablespoons flour and knead into the dough.  Let rest for 5 minutes.

Roll the dough out into a 12 inch x 20 inch rectangle. 

Sprinkle with the crumbly mixture.

Cut the rectangle vertically into six strips.

Here comes another tricky part.  You have to make sure that the dough isn't stuck to your work surface.  Then you have to lift each strip up and stack them without dumping all the crumbly mixture off.

I just kept picking the crumbly mixture off the counter and pressing it onto the dough.

And after reading the recipe again I realized I forgot to brush the rolled out dough with melted butter THEN top with the crumbly mixture.

Oops.

After all six strips are layered, make six more cuts.

Then layer into a 9 inch loaf pan.

Let rise for another 30 to 45 minutes.

Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree F oven.

Remove and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove from pan and serve warm.

This smelled heavenly while baking!  I couldn't WAIT for it to cool down so I could try it!!!! 

So I broke into the end and took a bite and was ecstatic - because it was delicious and moist and tender....

But upon first look I wasn't terribly happy that it didn't look as I had hoped or thought it should....  It didn't have that "flipbook" look that I was going for.  I think it's because I used a bench scraper to make the second cuts, and I should have used a pizza cutter...  I was going to!  I should have.

On Katie's recipe, she mentions that even though after 30 minutes of cook time, the top might be lightly golden, the center won't be cooked and you should continue to bake until the top is a dark golden brown.

She was right.  The ends were cooked, but the center was still totally raw...  Darn.
But the part that was cooked was fantastic!  I would say that it needs more like 50 - 60 minutes in the oven.

Thanks Katie!

Happy Birthday to the Cane girl!

Cake Batter Pull Apart Bread

Dough:
2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 cup cake mix
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
1/2 cup nonfat milk powder
4 Tablespoons cake mix
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
3 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup white chocolate, melted

1. In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Set aside.
2. Lightly beat the eggs and set aside.
3. In a saucepan over medium low heat, combine the milk and butter and heat until butter is melted.
4. Remove the saucepan from the burner and add the vanilla and water.  Let stand until mixture temperature is between 115 and 125 degrees F.
5. Add the milk mixture to the dry mixture and stir with a spatula until combined.
6. Add the eggs and stir until combined.  Stir until the mixture comes together, it may take a few minutes.
7. Add the cake mix and stir until combined.  Don't worry if the mixture is sticky, that's the way it should be.
8. Pour the mixture into a greased bowl and cover with saran wrap and a clean towel.
9. Let rise for at least one hour or double in size.
10. Make the crumble filling while waiting for the dough to rise.
11. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 225 degrees F.
12. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk powder, cake mix, cornstarch, sugar, and salt.
13. Stir in melted butter and mix well.
14. Spread thinly on the parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes (more if required) until dried and crumbly.
15. Once baked, add in the remaining 2 Tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk powder and white chocolate.  Mix well.  Set aside.
16. After the dough has completed it's rise, punch it down ad knead in 2 tablespoons flour.
17. Cover with a kitchen towel and rest for 5 minutes.
18. Lightly flour the work surface and turn out the dough.  Roll out into a 12 x 20 inch rectangle.
19. Brush with melted butter and top with crumble filling.
20. Cut the dough into six strips from the bottom to the top.
21. Stack the strips.
22. Cut the strips into six squares.
23. Place the squares on the cut sides in a 9 inch loaf pan.
24. Cover and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes.
25. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
26. Put the pan in the oven and bake until the top of the dough is a dark golden brown color.  This might take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
27. Once done baking, remove the pan from the oven and let stand for 20 to 30 minutes.  Loosen the bread from the pan by running a knife around the edges of the pan.
28. Turn out onto a serving plate and serve warm.

Source:  What Katies Baking