Take A Break With Homemade, Yeast-raised Coffeecake

Old-fashioned yeast-raised coffeecake is the very best sort of midmorning (or midnight) pastry. It's rich yet light, touched with just enough sugar to make it "a sweet," flavorful with butter and eggs, yet not too hideously fattening.

It is also, alas, quite rare, for reasons that elude me. Commercial versions scarcely bear consideration. They're invariably too sweet and too short on fresh, natural ingredients. And home cooks seem to have forgotten about the yeast-raised coffeecake, perhaps because the baking-powder version can be ready in less than an hour, while waiting for yeast dough to rise is a much more time-consuming proposition.

But what the heck - waiting isn't work, and making the delicious, versatile dough that follows is not only quick but easy. Bake it at once, or leave it for a day. Make it into the little jam-filled pastries called kolaches, tuck it into a spiral around a chocolate-spiked stuffing, or just make it into little golden buns, and serve them with fragrant honey.

KOLACHES

2 teaspoons dry yeast

1/4 cup tepid water

1/4 cup plus 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

5 to 6 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, plus more for the baking pan

4 eggs

Zest of 1 large lemon, shredded on the 1/8-inch holes of the grater

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup very thick jam or marmalade, approximately

1 egg white, beaten just enough to mix

Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Combine yeast, water and one-half teaspoon sugar in a small bowl, and set aside until foamy. Put four cups of the flour in a large bowl with the salt, and stir with a wire whip until thoroughly mixed.

Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut the butter completely into the flour; you'll have something about the texture of cornmeal.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the quarter cup of sugar until very light and foamy, then beat in the lemon zest and cream.

Using a wooden spoon, beat the egg mixture into the flour mixture, then beat in the yeast mixture. Stir vigorously for a few moments to work the dough, then add just enough additional flour to make a very soft dough that leaves the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least overnight, or as long as a full day.

At baking time, heat the oven to 425 degrees, and butter three flat baking sheets. Divide the dough in half, and work with one piece, keeping the other piece refrigerated.