Directions: |
Directions:Whisk together softened butter, sugar & eggs. Add powdered milk & yeast. Pour water over all. Stir together gently with whisk. Sprinkle 4 c. of flour over mixture and sprinkle the salt over the flour. Gently whisk the flour & salt into the mixture. Add as much of the rest of the flour as can be handled with a wooden spoon. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead in as much of the remaining flour as needed until the dough is no longer sticky. (The finished dough is very tender, do NOT add too much flour!)
Shape into a ball, grease with butter or vegetable oil, place in a bowl covered with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise until doubled ~ about 1 1/2 hours.
Shape into two "tea rings" as follows: Flatten half the dough into a rectangle. Spread with soft butter and sprinkle generously with sugar, cinnamon and finely chopped walnuts. Starting from the long side, roll up and transfer to a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Form the roll into the shape of a circle, seam side down. With scissors, cut slits about 2/3 of the way into the ring every couple inches around the outside. Separate the snipped areas by pulling them out a bit and tipping them to the side. Repeat this with the other half of the dough.
Let the formed rings rise until doubled in size (doesn't take as long the second time) and then bake in a 375º oven until deep golden brown ~ about 20 minutes or so. Butter the crust after removing from oven & cool on racks.
When cooled, frost with powdered sugar and milk frosting to which a few tablespoons of softened butter has been added. Immediately after frosting, garnish with maraschino cherries and walnuts (finely chopped or whole). |
This recipe for Coffee Cake (Swedish Tea Rings) is from