Easy Homemade Cinnamon Loaf Bread a.k.a. “King Cake”

Wishing for some homemade bread without alot of time and effort? Let me introduce you to “yeast on steroids.” I just make the easiest recipe for “Homemade Cinnamon Loaf Bread.” My neighbors, who know I like to bake, gave me some instant yeast, a.k.a. “yeast on steroids.” They claimed it was the best yeast that they had ever used. I couldn’t wait to get home to start baking as I had already been experimenting with instant yeast. Although Mardi Gras is past, I am still in the spirit. I shaped the bread dough like a “King Cake”and decorated it with Mardi Gras colors. (To update the holiday, just substitute other colors of sprinkles.) This is a knock-out homemade cinnamon bread — a baker’s delight — and was so quick to make. At the end of the post, I’m showing off some of my photos from our evening trip several weeks ago to New Orleans during Mardi Gras and Endymion Krewe’s parade.

SAF-Red Instant Yeast Brand and Advantages of Instant Yeast

A home baker can appreciate the fact that different forms and brands of yeast handle differently. While the yeast is the same microorganism, the main difference between active dry yeast and instant yeast is how they are manufactured. And, other components may differ, too. I was pleasantly surprised when my dough made with instant yeast took only 30 minutes to rise the first time and about 30 – 45 minutes for the second rising. This dough was easy to handle and shape.

Instant yeast has definate advantages. Instant yeast ramps up faster than regular active dry yeast and the dough begins to rise almost immediately. Plus, you don’t have to “jump start” instant yeast or activate it to “wake it up.” You can add the instant yeast directly to the flour components rather dissolving the yeast in warm water/milk. This gives another head start on making the bread.

Since you add the yeast directly to the flour, then the liquids can be heated to a slightly higher temperature, 120 to 130 degrees. For me, that means less chance of killing the yeast! A definate plus!

A “long” Essay about Fleishmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast (skip to the recipe, if desired)

I discovered another brand of instant yeast, or “yeast on steroids,” by accident when I purchased Fleishmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast. Home bakers will remember that yeast was in short supply during the pandemic. So I stocked up on the only yeast available in my grocery store at the time, Fleishmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast.

Since I have to know the entire story, I did a little sleuthing about Fleishmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast. I discovered that the Fleishmann’s folks add several emuslfiliers, dough enhancers and stabiliers to the “Pizza Crust Yeast” to get the desired pizza crust without extra time to let the dough rise. As a result, this yeast handles quite differently from traditional active dry yeast. Yes, the dough rises quickly as with Saf-Instant Yeast. However, the dough has less “snap-back.” It is not elastic. In my experience, the rolls and bread made with this yeast were very fragile and collapsed easily.

Exactly what is added to Fleishmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast? The ingredients are “YEAST, ENZYMES, SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE, L-CYSTEINE, ASCORBIC ACID.” Sorbitan monostearate helps keep the yeast dry and facilitates the rehydration of the yeast. The L-cysteine is a dough relaxant, so it helps keep the dough from shrinking (good for making a pizza crust). Ascorbic acid is a dough conditioner and makes more bread volume. The emulisifiers added to the yeast help make the pizza dough stretch easier but they also breaks down the gluten. The crust is much more fragile, less elastic. It tends to pull apart when you stretch it. Bread made with this yeast needs to be rolled with a rolling pin rather than stretched with your hands.

My dough made with Fleishmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast rose in 15 minutes and the sweet rolls were finished in a snap compared to the time of making traditional bread. What fun! If you want bread in a hurry, this is a good solution. However, the texture of the bread was quite different. The flavor was different, too. I’ll stick to making pizza with this yeast, not rolls or loaves of bread, unless we develop another yeast shortage.

Disadvantages of Instant Yeast

Are their disadvantages of using instant yeast compared to traditional active yeast? Yes, the longer rising time of traditional yeast helps develop those wonderful, aromatic flavors which we associate with homemade bread. Plus, the bread made with instant yeast is not as elastic. Although it rises quicker, the dough “runs out of steam” quicker and can collapse. The bread made with instant yeast has a finer crumb compared to traditional bread.

Back to Cinnaman Loaf Bread Recipe, a.k.a. “King Cake”

Back to Saf-Instant Yeast. I loved it and was excited to find a quick and easy process for making cinnamon loaf bread, a.k.a. “King Cake.” Instant yeast makes a good compromise between traditional active dry yeast and the Fleishmann’s no-knead, no-rise Pizza Crust yeast. I’ve made this recipe several times now to tweek the process. Let’s get baking a “King Cake.”

A very traditional “King Cake” is a rich, puff pastry — with lots of butter folded into layers of dough. It is formed into an oval shape, baked and decorated and is served during the Mardi Gras season at any gathering or event. King Cakes have evolved over the years and are now made with a bread dough which is more similar to cinnamon rolls. So, my recipe is basically the same one I use for cinnamon rolls.

Here are the ingredients for my cinnamon loaf bread. As you notice, there is no sugar in the bread recipe. The sweet component comes from the cinnamon sugar filling in the dough and in the icing. The ingredients for my cinnamon bread are bread flour, eggs, milk, butter, salt and Saf-Instant Yeast.

To mix up the bread, I use my food processor. Alternatively, you can knead the dough by hand.

1. Add the bread flour, yeast and salt to the food processor bowl and stir to combine. (Alternatively, add to a large bowl.)
2. Heat the milk/butter in the microwave for about one minute. The liquid ingredients should be between 120 to 130 F degrees. This is “hot” but you can still put your finger it it, briefly.
3. Add the heated milk/butter and eggs to the flour mixture in the bowl. Using a dough hook, knead for several minutes. My Cuisinart food processor is so old, I have a unique dough hook. But it works. (If making the bread by hand, add everything together and stir until it forms a ball. Then knead on a floured board for about 5 minutes.)
   

Let the dough rise until doubled in size. I turn my oven to 180 degrees, place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it set in the oven. If you don’t have this low oven temperature setting, then warm your oven and turn if off. It took 30 minutes for my dough to double.

On a floured board, gently roll the dough out into a long retangle. Spinkle on a mixture of dark brown sugar/cinnamon. Roll up into a jelly roll.

King Cakes are traditional shaped into an oval and this is done by hand. However, this fragile dough did not hold the shape well when it rose for a second time and baked. I decided to bake my cinnamon loaf bread using a 12-cup Bundt cake pan. Oil the Bundt pan well, slide the jelly roll into the Bundt cae pan and pinch the ends together. Cover the Bundt pan wth a warm cloth, put it back in your warm spot and let it double in size again. This took 45 minutes. And, the bread does not rise further during baking. So, let it rise completely the second time.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Let it cool a little, then loosen edges and invert onto a serving plate. Looks like a cake — but it is a loaf of bread!

This cinnamon loaf bread should have an icing or glaze and colored spinkles. Here are the ingredients for my glaze. I used almond extract for flavor rather than vanilia extract — this made an interesting flavor change. Mix together the powdered sugar, milk, almond extract and a pinch of salt. The glaze should be very thick but pourable.

Drizzle the glaze on the King Cake and then immediately sprinkle on colored spinkles. The glaze hardens quickly. Work fast.

Finished! This makes a striking dessert. When made in a round Bundt cake pan, it is a little “rift” on the traditional oval “King Cake” theme. For other holidays or occasions, just change the color of the spinkles — or omit them entirely.

Using Saf-Instant Yeast, this “Cinnamon Loaf Bread” was quick and easy to make. It is a good project for home cooks who don’t bake alot because success is almost assured. I hope you enjoy the recipe. I’ll be ready for Mardi Gras parties next year, now that I’ve discovered this wonderful yeast. And enjoy my parade photos which follow the recipe.

recipe title= “Easy Homemade Cinnamon Loaf Bread, a.k.a. King Cake” servings= “12” time=”1-1/2 hour” difficulty=”easy”]

Ingredients for bread: 

• 4 cups bread flour, plus more for flouring pastry board, if needed
• 2 tsp Saf-Instant Yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-1/4 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• oil for oiling bowl for rising and Bundt cake pan
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Ingredients for glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar, more if needed
• dash salt
• 3 Tbsp milk, more if needed
• 1/4 tsp almond extract

Method and Steps:

1. Oil a 12-cup fluted Bundt cake pan. Set aside.
2. Add bread flour, Saf-Instant Yeast and salt to large food process or bowl. Stir to combine.
3. Heat milk and butter in microwave for approx 1 minute to heat milk and melt butter. Milk should be hot (120 – 130 degrees F.), but you should still be able to dip finger in milk. Use an instant read kitchen thermometer to check milk temperature, if desired.
4. Add hot water/butter mixture and egg to flour mixture. Use continuous motion to combine liquids with flour until the mixture comes together in a ball. Then pulse with on and off motion for 2 to 3 minutes to knead the dough. Or, if using dough hook, follow manufacturer’s instructions for kneading dough. If making dough by hand, knead for about 5 minutes on lightly floured surface.
5. Shape dough into a ball and transfer to a large oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm place to rise. (I heat my oven to 180 degree F.) Dough will take from 30 minutes to 45 minutes to double in size.
6. When doubled in size, remove from bowl and trasnfer to lightly floured pastry board. Using a rolling pin, gently roll dough out into a rectangle which is 18″ long and 6″ high.
7. Combine dark brown sugar with cinnamon. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over dough rectangle, but not complete to edges of dough.
8. Roll up long edge of dough retangle to make a jelly roll. Pinch edges together.
9. Carefully transfer to oiled 12-cup Bundt cake pan. Bring the ends together and pinch close.
10. Cover with damp cloth, and place back in warm oven or othe warm location. Let rise until double in size, about 30 – 45 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 degrees. (Make sure Bundt pan is not in oven.)
12. When the dough has doubled in size, bake for 35 minutes.
13. Remove from oven, let cool about 15 minutes.
14. Invert Cinnamon Loaf Bread onto a serving plate. Let cool until just slightly warm.
15. Meanwhile, mix up glaze. In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, salt and stir to combine. Add milk and almond extract and stir until no clumps remain. Glaze should be thick but still slightly pourable. Add either additional milk or powdered sugar — one small spoon at a time — to reach desired consistency, if needed.
16. Drizzle part of glaze over King Cake. Spinkle on colored sugar spinkles. Continue to add glaze and spinkles until entire King Cake is iced..

[/recipe]

I realize that Mardi Gras is past, and that I’m behind in posting about this holiday. However, I still have to show off my Mardi Gras photos. We don’t attend Mardi Gras parades every year. Sometimes, it is just too cold or rainy. However, on this Saturday, the weather was great and we decided to celebrate at the last minute. We packed up our car and drove to New Orleans to take in the Endymion Krewe’s Mardi Gras parade on Saturday, Feb 10, 2024. The theme of the parade was, “Silents are Golden,” which was a nod to silent movies. Never mind that we had to park almost a mile away and hike to the parade route — even though we arrived 2 hours before the parade started. We enjoyed the afternoon/evening and I managed to snap alot of photos, catch some beads (see King Cake photos) and catch many trinkets including cute, soft Endymion dolls. It was our chance to be kids again. We reached up, shouted and fought for beads like everyone else.

I haven’t figure out how to add captions a “photo gallery” but you can follow along.

Top Left: His Majesty, King of Endymion (chosen by random drawing the week prior to the parade), Top Right, Float paying homage to Endymion founder, Edmond Josept Muniz, who passed away in 2023. He led the krewe for 57 years. Next Row: Group of men headed to their float prior to the beginning of the parade; Endymion had 3,200 masked riders on their floats. These guys were on float #34 out of #37. Center – the only couple in New Orleans did not read the memo to dress up for Mardi Gras parade, Right: Costumed Mardi Gras rider headed to his float. Once on the float, the riders are masked. And only men ride on Endymion floats!

Center Gallery: Clydesdale Horse team from Budweiser Bush along with their adorable dalmation mascot. The well-behaved dog sat there like a regal king. The clydesdale horses stopped right in front of us for about 15 minutes. Just gorgeous horses and I had a close opportunity to swoon over the entire outfit. Each horse had their own handler who got in the way of my photos. However, these horses may weigh up to 2,000 pounds apeice (1 ton). With 8 horses hitched together, we were fortunate that the horses were well-trained.

Bottom Gallery: Maids of Endymion — young ladies, Endymion society debuantes, chosen for their participation in Endymion activities. Right, queen of Endymion, chosen for service and family ties. Bottom Row – some of the floats at night time. Bottom Center – this was float #34 — did these guys from earlier in the afternoon remember us? No. Bottom Right, masked rider on horseback. Bands marched between all the floats. However, we were at least 10 rows back and couldn’t see the bands. But they added to the spirit of the parade.

We stood towards the beginning of the parade route. The parade began in the afternoon, passing us at 4:30 pm. When the last float passed at 8:30 pm it was dark. The colorful lights of the floats made it seem like a magical nite. My tribute to Mardi Gras and the passion of this city.

Reference:

https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/saf-red-instant-yeast#:~:text=Unlike%20active%20dry%20yeast%2C%20SAF,just%20as%20the%20recipe%20says.