Yuletide Refrigerator Yeast Dough

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg or 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 (6 ounce) package dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons orange juice
• 1/4 cup nuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup powdered sugar (optional)
• 2 -3 tablespoons milk (optional)
• 2 cups prunes, cooked, chopped
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons margarine, melted

Recipe

• 1 lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. in large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cup flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg and yeast; blend well.
• 2 in small saucepan, heat milk, water and margarine to very warm (120 to 130:f.).
• 3 add warm liquid and eggs to flour mixture. blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
• 4 by hand, stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough.
• 5 cover tightly; refrigerate overnight. shape into fanned prune coffee cake, apricot wreath coffee cake or other holiday coffee cake.
• 6 apricot wreath coffee cake: in small saucepan, combine apricots and water. cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until water is absorbed and apricots are soft, about 20-25 minutes. add brown sugar, orange juice and nuts; cool.
• 7 grease 2 cookie sheets.
• 8 turn dough onto lightly floured surface; divide into 2 parts.
• 9 roll out half of dough to 18x12 inch rectangle; spread with half the filling.
• 10 starting at 18 inch side, roll up jelly roll style, pinching edges to seal.
• 11 place seam-side-down on prepared cookie sheet; twist into a circle, join ends, pinch to seal.
• 12 with scissors or sharp knife make cuts about three-fourths of the way through the dough, 1 inch apart. repeat with remaining dough.
• 13 cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 30-40 minutes.
• 14 heat oven to 375:f. bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
• 15 remove from pan immediately. cool.
• 16 if desired, combine powdered sugar and milk; drizzle over warm loaf.
• 17 fanned prune coffee cake: in medium saucepan, combine prunes, sugar and lemon juice; bring to a boil. boil 1 minute, stirring occasionally; cool.
• 18 grease 2 cookie sheets.
• 19 turn dough onto lightly floured surface; divide into 2 parts.
• 20 roll out half of dough to 18x9 inch rectangle. spread half of prepared filling lengthwise down two-thirds of dough.
• 21 fold unspread dough over half of spread dough. fold again, forming 3 layers of dough and 2 layers of filling. seal edges well.
• 22 place on prepared cookie sheet. using scissors or sharp knife make eight cuts, 1 inch apart, to within 1 inch of opposite side. seperate strips slightly; twist so filling shows.
• 23 repeat with remaining dough.
• 24 cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 30-40 minutes.
• 25 heat oven to 375:f. bake 15-25 minutes or until golden brown.
• 26 meanwhile in small bowl, combine honey and margarine. brush mixture over hot loaf to glaze. serve warm.