Moravian Sugar Cake
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If a coffee cake and a focaccia had a baby, it would look something like this. Sugar cake is a tradition of the Moravians, a group of Czech Protestants who landed in the same Pennsylvania region as the Amish and Mennonites, and later settled in North Carolina. In 1766, the Moravian church founded Salem, now Winston-Salem. And not long after, the church established Winkler Bakery, which has been in continual operation since, churning out its signature Moravian sugar cake.
The cake is unique in many ways. The base is less cake-like and more of a bouncy, chewy, yeasted dough. Before baking, you poke it all over, just like a focaccia, to create a dimpled surface. A heavy sprinkling of brown sugar and cinnamon caramelizes into crunchy bits on the surface and seeps into gooey pools in the pockets. But the real plot twist is a secret ingredient mixed in the dough: mashed potatoes. It’s not unprecedented to use potatoes as a starter to help natural yeast bloom—all types of potato breads spring to mind—but potatoes in a cake feels like a real leap of faith. The great news is they’re undetectable in flavor but add a lot in the way of texture and a sturdy crumb. The other great news is I have no patience for boiling, mashing, and cooling potatoes as step one for making a cake. My recipe breaks with tradition and uses dried potato flakes so you can get this show on the road.
Within the Moravian community, the cake is still a special part of Easter and Christmas. Outside of the community, it’s become popular throughout North Carolina as a breakfast treat and bake sale staple. To me, it’s ideal as a not-too-sweet, beautifully tender snacking cake that is perfect bite after bite.
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What you’ll need
Instant Dried Potato Flakes
$10 At Amazon
Active Dry Yeast
$6 At Amazon
8-Inch Baking Pan
$26 $24 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
2 hours (plus cooling)
Yield
9 servings
Ingredients
Dough
Topping and Assembly
Preparation
Dough
Step 1
Whisk together ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. (113 g) granulated sugar with ⅓ cup warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer until mostly dissolved. Sprinkle 1¾ tsp. active dry yeast over and let sit 5 minutes.
Step 2
Meanwhile, combine ¾ cup whole milk and 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high power in 30-second bursts until butter is melted and milk is warm, about 1 minute. (Milk should be warm, not hot. If the milk is too hot, let it cool until it’s the temperature of a warm bath.)
Step 3
Add milk mixture, 1 large egg, 2⅓ cups plus 3 Tbsp. (315 g) all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup instant potato flakes, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt to yeast mixture. Fit bowl onto stand mixer and attach dough hook. Starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high speed as flour is incorporated, beat until dough is somewhat smooth but still very sticky (somewhere between the texture of bread dough and cake batter), about 4 minutes. Stop motor, scrape down sides of bowl, and mix on low speed until dough is completely smooth but still sticky, 3–4 minutes more. (Dough will still stick to the sides of the mixer when it’s done.) Spray a large bowl with nonstick vegetable oil spray and scrape dough into bowl. Tightly cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free spot until puffy but not quite doubled in volume, 30–45 minutes.
Step 4
Coat an 8x8" baking pan with nonstick spray. Scrape dough into pan, pressing it evenly across bottom with wet fingers. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy but not quite doubled in volume, 30–45 minutes.
Topping and Assembly
Step 5
While the dough is rising, whisk ½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. (packed; 125 g) light brown sugar, 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a medium bowl.
Step 6
Place a rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 375°. Uncover dough and sprinkle brown sugar mixture evenly over surface. Drizzle 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled, evenly over. Using your fingers, dimple surface of dough, pressing all the way to the bottom of pan to create deep divots, (like focaccia).
Step 7
Bake cake until puffed and dark golden brown, 32–37 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan until no longer too hot to the touch. Turn cake out onto rack and let cool completely. Cut into 9 squares (3x3 grid) to serve.
Do Ahead: Cake can be baked 2 days ahead. Stored tightly wrapped at room temperature.
Recipe notes
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