Well here it is Christmas Eve, this is the day that I make my Christmas coffee cake. This year I decided to make two different kinds, the one we always have and a new one – a never tried before recipe — maybe it will become a favorite who knows. I decided to forgo the cookies this year as it is just the two of us and one of our daughters and son in law will be here for a short time tomorrow. No little kids who would want cookies — just big ones who do not really need them 
Our icy weather is a thing of the past and today it is 50 degrees! Not very Christmasy weather but it feels nice after 5 days or so of bone chilling weather. The weekend will be even better, in the 60′s
The coffee cake recipe I am trying is called Vanocka and here is the recipe with pictures.
Vanocka (Czechoslovakian Christmas Bread)
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon lemon peel
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon candied orange peel (recipe to follow)
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
If you do not have candied orange peel, here is a recipe to do it yourself:
1 large navel orange
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Take the peeling off of the orange and cut it into small pieces (I did not have a large orange handy but small ones, I only used one small orange and cut the recipe in half). Put a small amount of water in a pan and put the peel in it, boil it for 1 minutes, drain, and do it again and again. You repeat the boiling in water part a total of 3 times, this is to take the bitterness out of the orange peel.
Bring the water and sugar to a boil, stir until sugar dissolves. Put the peel in the sugar water and boil it on a low setting for 15 minutes, stir now and then.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or non-stick foil and with tongs or a fork lift the peel out of the syrup and place on the foil to dry and cool off. If you are making this, make it at least several hours before you start your recipe.
The coffee cake:
I use a bread machine for the first part of the recipe and following the manufacture directions for placing in order in the machine. Place the milk, egg, butter, sugar, salt, spices, lemon peel, flour, and yeast in the bread pan. Put the pan in the machine and select sweet setting. When the machine signals it is time to add the fruit – do not add the fruit but do add the chopped nuts. After the bread rises the second time in your machine take it out and put on a floured surface and knead in the fruit by hand.
Get it smooth and elastic and place in a bowl to rise one more time.
When it is doubled in bulk place on a slightly floured surface again and knead it two or three times. Cut the dough into 3 equal pieces and make three “ropes” equal in size — about 12 to 18 inches in length – braid them just as you would do hair.
Place on a greased baking sheet and let it rise again, about 20 to 30 minutes. Take the beaten egg yolk with the water and brush over the surface of the dough lightly.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until browned and skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle a vanilla frosting over it while it is warm.
There are other variations of this bread, one is cutting the dough first into 4 pieces, use 3 for the large braid, the remaining one you cut in four pieces, use 3 for a smaller braid which you place on top of the first larger braid. The final piece is cut in two and you twist those together and place this on top of the second smaller braid. I choose this variation as it was the easiest! If you choose to make this bread without a bread machine and if you know how to make bread I would just make it the way you would normally make your bread – dissolve your yeast in water and go from there.
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