Recipe: Bubble Loaf (with Maraschino Cherries)

BUBBLE LOAF WITH MARASCHINO CHERRIES

1 package (or 1 Tablespoon) active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
1/3 cup shortening or butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
2 beaten eggs
6 Tablespoons melted butter
1 cup sugar mixed with 1-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup whole almonds or other nuts to your taste
1/2 cup whole maraschino cherries
1/3 cup dark corn syrup

Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water and let rest for several minutes until thoroughly dissolved and mixture begins to form.

Combine milk, 1/3 cup shortening or butter, salt, flour, and eggs and add yeast to mixture. Beat and then knead until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl or plastic bag (leave room for rising) and let rest until doubled.

Butter a tube cake pan thoroughly, and sprinkle with sugar on bottom and sides to prevent cake from sticking and give a lovely sugared surface to the finished cake.

Now, punch down the dough and divide into 40 balls. Roll balls first in the 6 Tablespoons melted butter, then the sugar mixture. Arrange in layers in the prepared tube pan, occasionally dropping in a cherry or almond in random fashion

When all balls are rolled and put into the pan and all cherries and nuts are dropped in as well, combine the remaining butter and sugar mixture with the corn syrup. Drizzle this over the top of the bubble loaf. Let rise until doubled.

Then bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Cool for about 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate.

Serve warm. This should be pulled apart with fingers, rather than sliced.

Note from source: "Almost thirty years ago, Roberta and Denis of the Gaslight Inn found this recipe in a Fort Wayne newspaper. It is as tasty and fun to eat now as when their children were toddlers, and it makes a pretty presentation on a brunch or dessert buffet table. The fact that you pull it apart rather than cut it helps people relax -- how can you be formal when you're licking your fingers?"