Candy Cane Coffee Cake

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

Ingredients

• 2 cups sour cream
• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast (the equivalent of 2 packages)
• 1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees f)
• 1/4 cup butter or 1/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 eggs
• 6 cups all-purpose flour, about
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped dried apricots
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped maraschino cherries
• soft butter or margarine
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons water

Recipe

• 1 heat sour cream over low heat just until lukewarm.
• 2 dissolve yeast in the warm water. stir in sour cream, butter, sugar, salt, eggs and 2 cups of the flour. beat until smooth. mix in enough remaining flour to make it easy to handle.
• 3 turn dough onto well-floured board. knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. place in greased bowl. turn once to bring greased side up. cover. let rise in warm place until double, about 1 hour. to test for rising, stick two fingers in dough. if holes remain but top stays smooth, dough is ready.
• 4 heat oven to 375°f punch down dough: divide into three equal parts.
• 5 roll each part into a rectangle, 15 x 6 inches. place on greased baking sheet. with scissors, make 2-inch cuts at 1/2-inch intervals on both long sides of the rectangles.
• 6 combine apricots and cherries. spread 1/3 of the fruit mixture down the center of each of the rectangles. crisscross strips over the filling. stretch dough to 22 inches. curve to form a “cane.â€?.
• 7 bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. while warm, brush with butter and drizzle canes with thin icing. if desired, decorate with cherry halves or pieces.
• 8 for icing, blend 2 cups powdered sugar with about 2 tablespoons water. if icing is too stiff, add water a drop at a time. if too thin, add more powdered sugar a little at a time.