Chocolate Almond Coffee Cake

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

Dough

  • ½ cup (4 oz) water or rice milk
  • 3 tbsp (¾ oz) Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
  • 3 tbsp (1½ oz) unsalted butter or margarine, soft
  • ¼ cup (1¾ oz) granulated sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk (save the white)
  • ¾ cup (2½ oz) whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1¾ cups (7½ oz) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 tsp instant yeast

Almond Filling

  • ⅔ cup (6 oz) almond paste
  • 3 tbsp (1¼ oz) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg white (reserved from the dough)

Chocolate Filling

  • 2 tbsp (3/8 oz) unsweetened natural cocoa
  • 2 tbsp (7/8 ounce) sugar
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 3 tbsp (1½ oz) heavy cream
  • ¼ cup (1½ oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Streusel Topping

  • ½ cup (2 1/8 oz) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • ¼ cup (2¼ oz) dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ cup (2 oz) unsalted butter
  • ½ cup (3 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup (1 oz) chopped nuts

How-to

To Make the Dough

  1. Mix and then knead together all of the dough ingredients by hand, mixer, or with the dough cycle of your bread machine, until you’ve made a very soft, smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 hour, or the bread machine to complete it’s cycle
  2. While the dough is rising, make the streusel topping and the fillings, and set
    them aside

To Make the Almond Filling

  1. Crumble the almond paste into a medium bowl
  2. Add the remaining almond filling ingredients and mix all together with an electric mixer until you have a smooth, spreadable paste. Set aside

To Make the Chocolate Filling

  1. Combine the cocoa, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Heat the cream until simmering over medium heat on the stove or in the microwave, and pour into the sugar mixture. Stir until the mixture is smooth; heat once more over medium heat as necessary to dissolve the sugar.
    Add the chocolate chips and stir until they’re melted
  2. Set the mixture aside to cool to room temperature

To Make the Streusel Topping

  1. Mix together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon
  2. Cut in the butter until the mixture forms large crumbs, then stir in the chocolate chips and nuts

To Assemble the Coffeecake

  1. Gently deflate the dough and divide in half.  Roll one half into a 10 x 15-inch rectangle and spread with the chocolate filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border on one long side. Brush this edge with a little water. Roll up from the opposite long edge, pinching the dough together to seal the edge well. Set this log aside. Repeat with the second piece of dough, using the almond filling this time
  2. Cut both logs in half lengthwise; a large pizza cutter is handy for this task. Take one almond and one chocolate piece,and pinch them together well at the top, keeping the cut sides facing up. Twist them together, again keeping the cut side up as much as possible. Join the ends of the remaining two logs to the ends of the first, and continue weaving the logs until all of the dough is used
  3. If making one large coffeecake, place it in a greased 10-inch spring-form pan, keeping the dough at the outside edge. As the dough rises and bakes, it will fill into the center hole. If making two coffeecakes, place each in a greased 8-inch round pan
  4. Sprinkle the streusel on top of the dough. Cover lightly and let rise for about 30 to 45 minutes, until puffy looking
    Preheat the oven to 325°F. Bake cake(s) for 25 to 30 minutes (shorter for the small cakes, longer for the large one).  Be careful not to overbake because the chocolate will begin to scorch where it’s in contact with the pan
  5. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack in pan for 15 minutes, then remove from
    the pan(s) and return to the rack to finish cooling
  6. Slice and serve at room temperature