Last Updated on 01/08/2024 by Adina
This soft and delicious pull-apart yeast cake is made with almonds and it is also known as Hungarian coffee cake or monkey bread.
First of all, this is a yeast cake, but you will not have to knead anything with your hands. Just in case the title worries you.
I am updating the recipe for the yeast cake in July 2019. Thanks to some comments I received for this recipe, I found out that this Transylvanian yeast cake is actually the better-known Hungarian coffee cake, monkey bread, or pull-apart bread, which was brought to the US by Hungarian immigrants.
Recipe ingredients
There are two kinds of yeast: fresh and dry yeast. There are also two kinds of dry yeast: active dry yeast and instant yeast.
Fresh yeast: A cube of fresh yeast weighs 42 g/ 1.5 oz in Germany, and it is usually enough to bake a regular-sized bread or to make the dough for a large yeast cake, for instance. However, always follow the quantities indicated by the recipe you are following.
Active dry yeast: It has larger granules and has to be dissolved in water before use.
Instant dry yeast: The granules are finer, and the yeast can be mixed with the dry ingredients before adding the milk (or water).
Both types of dry yeast are usually sold in small packages and, at least in Germany, one package is the equivalent of ½ cube fresh yeast. One package of dry yeast weighs 7 g/ 0.24 oz in Germany.
To make this Transylvanian yeast cake, you will need 1 cube/ 42 g fresh yeast or 2 packages (a total of 14 g/ 0.5 oz) active dry yeast or instant yeast.
Nuts: The original recipe calls for hazelnuts, which is definitely more Romanian or Hungarian than using almonds. I didn't have any hazelnuts, though, so I used almonds instead. Please feel free to take whatever you have or like best.
How to make yeast cake?
The yeast dough is really easy to make, so don't get scared by it. Because it is too soft, you will not even have to knead this time.
You can use either a food processor with a kneading attachment or a hand-held mixer with kneading attachments.
How to make the dough with fresh yeast?
- Heat the milk very gently until lukewarm, not hotter than 37 degrees Celsius/ 98 degrees Fahrenheit/body temperature, or the yeast will be destroyed.
- Crumble the fresh yeast into the milk and stir until dissolved.
- Give the yeast mixture to the flour, sugar, and salt mixture and continue with the recipe.
- How to make the dough with active dry yeast:
- Mix the active dry yeast with the lukewarm milk and proceed with the recipe.
How to make the yeast dough with instant yeast?
- Mix the instant yeast with the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the lukewarm milk.
- Proceed with the recipe.
Steps to make the yeast dough
- Step #1: Gather the ingredients.
- Step #2: Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Step #3: Dissolve the yeast. Or mix it with the flour, sugar, and salt if using instant yeast. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Add liquids. Add eggs and butter. Knead using the kneading attachments of your hand-held mixer or a standing mixer/food processor.
- Step #4: Place the dough in a clean bowl and cover it. Let the dough rise until it is doubled in size.
Shape it
- Step #5: Take the dough out of the bowl piece by piece using two tablespoons for help. Roll the dough piece first through the oil.
- Step #6: Roll the pieces through the almonds/nuts. Don't worry if the dough stretches and looks lumpy. Just help it more or less keep the shape with the two tablespoons and dump it in the prepared pan.
- Steps #7 and 8: Place the pieces into the prepared springform.
- Step #9: Bake the yeast cake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and dry. It really depends on your oven, so keep checking.
Good to know!
Rising time: It will take about 30 minutes if you use fresh yeast and about 35-40 minutes if you use dry yeast. But checking the rising time depends not only on the type of yeast you are using but also on the temperature in your kitchen.
Don't be tempted to shape the dough with your hands, it will not work, the dough is very very soft.
After arranging half of the dough pieces in the pan, you might think it’s too small for the rest, but everything fits perfectly. Just push the pieces around, and you’ll fit the remaining ones. I typically fit 14 to 16 pieces of yeast cake in the pan.
How to serve it?
The yeast cake is best enjoyed on the day you bake it. Serve it lukewarm or at room temperature with a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast, brunch, or coffee time.
Leftovers should be stored, covered, at room temperature for 1 day. You can still eat them 2 days later, but the yeast cake will be drier, so you might want to help it with more coffee, tea, or milk.
Pull-Apart Yeast Cake
Ingredients
Yeast dough:
- 500 g all-purpose flour 1.1 lbs / 4 cups + 2 tablespoons
- 50 g granulated sugar 7 oz/ ¼ cup
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cube 40 g/ 1.4 oz fresh yeast or 2 sachets dried yeast (Nte 2)
- 400 ml lukewarm milk 13.5 fl.oz/ 1 ¾ cups
- 2 eggs
- 60 g unsalted butter 2.1 oz/ ¼ cup, very soft
Coating:
- 125 ml vegetable oil 4.2 fl.oz/ ½ cup, Note 3
- 200 g ground almonds 7 oz/ 1 ⅔ cups, Note 4
- 75 g granulated sugar 2.5 oz/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon
Instructions
Yeast dough:
- Yeast: If making the dough with fresh or active dry yeast, mix the lukewarm milk and the crumbled fresh yeast (or sprinkle the active dry yeast in the milk) in a small bowl and stir until the yeast dissolves.
- Place the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour the milk-yeast mixture into the well and mix it with a little flour.
- If using instant yeast, mix the flour, sugar, and salt with the instant yeast. Add the milk and continue with the recipe.
- Add the eggs and the very soft butter.
- Knead for about 5 minutes using the kneading attachments of you hand-held mixer. The dough should be smooth and soft, you will not be able to knead it with your hands.
- Let rise: Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place. It should double in size, this will take about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the type of yeast you are using and on the temperature in your kitchen. Keep checking.
- Line a springform pan (diameter 26 cm/ 10 inches) with baking paper, bottom, and walls of the pan.
Shape the dough for the monkey bread:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Pour the oil into a shallow bowl or a soup/pasta plate.
- Mix the almonds and sugar in a similar dish.
- Form dough: Remove pieces of dough out of the bowl helping yourself with two tablespoons. Scoop a very full tablespoon out of the dough, helping yourself with the second spoon.
- Turn each piece first through the oil and then through the almond-sugar mixture. Don't worry if the pieces look lumpy, they are supposed to be like that.
- Place each piece of dough in the prepared pan. After you've arranged about half of the dough pieces into the pan, you might have the feeling that the pan is too small for all the pieces to fit in. I thought so too at first, but I was wrong, everything fits perfectly, you just have to push the pieces that are already in the pan around and you will be able to fit the remaining ones as well. You should have 14-16 pieces of dough.
- Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and dry. Enjoy lukewarm or at room temperature.
Notes
- A digital kitchen scale (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab) will give you the most precise measure, ensuring the best bake possible.
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You can use any type of yeast: fresh, active dry yeast, or instant yeast. 1 sachet of dry yeast weighs 7 g/ 0.24 oz in Germany, so a total of 14 g/ 0.5 oz for this recipe.
Follow the instructions for each type of yeast. I've baked the yeast
cake with all these kinds of yeast, and it always works. - Oil: I used neutral-tasting canola oil. Do not use olive oil or any oil with a strong taste.
- Ground hazelnuts can be used instead.
Tracey says
Hi, where it says Ground Almonds, I am assuming almond meal is ok?