Candy Cane Coffee Cake is my number one favorite thing to make during the holiday season. It’s not only delicious, but it’s so cute and impressive to make and serve. There are no actual candy canes in this coffee cake. Instead, the candy cane-shaped pastries are filled with a raspberry sauce and drizzled with a sweet glaze. Everyone loves these!
How to make candy cane coffee cake:
Make the dough (following the directions), and separate it into three equal parts. Yes, this recipe makes 3 candy cane coffee cakes. I’m not really quite sure how you would cut the recipe into thirds to just make one… so just go ahead and make three. Give two away to neighbors as gifts and keep one for yourself! Roll the dough into a rectangle. This dough is easy to work with. It’s incredibly forgiving, and it actually moves where you want it to go. Spread this wonderful raspberry filling (you’ll make this too, but don’t worry… it’s really simple) down the middle. You can use any sort of favorite filling, but since this is a candy cane coffee cake, red fillings will look best.
Cut half-inch strips with a sharp, thin knife along each side of the filling.
Cross strips over the middle in a weave fashion- one side and then the other, etc. Keep weaving all the way up. Tuck in the ends. Gently stretch the whole weaved dough into a longer piece. (Again, the dough is really easy to work with and shouldn’t fall apart.) Turn the upper portion to form the top of the candy cane. Gently move the dough around until it looks the way you want. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size.
Bake for a short 15 minutes.
Drizzle an almond-flavored glaze over the warm cakes.
Let the glaze harden and wrap a little festive ribbon around the cane. The ribbon is optional, of course, but it looks awfully cute.
Slice and serve!
Make ahead tips:
Prepare these candy cane coffee cakes to the point right before rising. Cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, you can let them rise and then bake and glaze them. I haven’t tried freezing them yet, but if I did… I’d probably prepare them through baking and then freeze them at that point. Then glaze them after defrosting and right before serving. If you’re looking for more recipes for your holiday brunch, you might consider making this Farmer’s Casserole and my Overnight Eggnog Coffee Cake. Holiday Breakfast Casserole and Fruit Salad with Poppyseed Dressing would also be delicious brunch additions.
