Making breakfast ring is a weekend treat. As kids, my siblings and I made it with canned biscuits rolled in butter, cinnamon, and sugar and cooked it in the microwave. Nowadays, I make my breakfast ring in the oven with a yeasted dough, adding a touch of cardamom for an adult version. Cardamom can be a bit pricey, so I suggest getting it from the bulk bins at the grocery store and buying only as much as you need. If you purchase whole pods, put one in your coffeepot or French press in the morning when you’re brewing coffee for a real treat.
Everyone will love breakfast ring; turn it out of the Bundt pan onto a large plate, place it hot on a table, and watch how fast it is delicately pulled apart and disappears.
Breakfast Ring
Author: Excerpted from Bayou by Melissa Martin (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2024. Photographs by Denny Culbert.
Serves 8
Ingredients
FOR THE DOUGH
- 1½ cups (360 ml) lukewarm whole milk
- 1½ tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3½ cups (440 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons cold lard or unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
FOR THE BUNDT PAN
- Baking spray or canola oil
- 3 tablespoons raw sugar
FOR THE CINNAMON-SUGAR MIXTURE
- ½ cup packed (110 g) dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) raw sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces (115 g) unsalted butter
Instructions
Make the dough:
- In a small bowl, combine the lukewarm milk and yeast and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the honey and stir.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Use your fingers to smudge the lard through the flour until you’ve combined the two. You may still see pea-size bits of lard. Make a well in the flour mixture and add the yeast mixture. Use your hands to mix and to form a craggy ball.
- On a clean, lightly floured surface, knead the dough until it becomes cohesive and a bit shiny, 6 to 8 minutes. Let the dough sit for a minute while you wipe out and grease the dough bowl.
- Place the dough in the greased bowl, cover with a clean dish towel or plastic wrap, and let it rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Prepare the pan: Use baking spray or about 1 tablespoon canola oil (which can handle high temperatures) to liberally grease a Bundt pan, then coat it with the raw sugar. Do not skimp on the greasing and sugaring step.
- Turn the risen dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface and roll it into an 8 by 16-inch (20 by 40 cm) rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into eight 4-inch (10 cm) square pieces; then cut each of those into four until you have 32 bite-size pieces (these will ultimately double in size).
Make the cinnamon-sugar mixture:
- Using a fork, combine the sugars, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in a bowl. Roll each piece of dough in the mixture, then place the dough layer by layer in the prepared Bundt pan.
- Place the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture and the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer. Immediately pour the hot butter-sugar around the sides of the dough in the pan, being careful not to pour directly on top of the dough, which would hinder the rise. Set the pan in a warm, draft-free spot and let the dough rise, uncovered, until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until the ring is no longer doughy in the center and the internal temperature registers 190° to 200°F (90° to 95°C) on an instant-read thermometer. (If you are using a convection oven, the cooking time may be shorter.) Remove the pan from the oven, let cool for about 2 minutes, then turn out onto a cake stand or large flat plate. Be sure to turn the breakfast ring out of the pan while it is warm, otherwise the sugars will cement it to the pan and the residual heat will keep cooking it. Enjoy immediately—but don’t burn the roof of your mouth.
Notes
You can mix the dough the night before, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for a slow rise.
