one for all and all for cake: Bubble bubble, toil and trouble

I have no idea what gave me the idea to make monkey bread (aka bubble cake and a whole slew of other names which can be found on the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_bread). All I knew what that I had to make it. Now this delectable delight often is made with store bought doughs (biscuits and such), but I didn't really feel like heading out to the store at about 9pm at night nor did I really want to lose any sleep over such a strenuous endeavor. But lucky for me, a google search brought up Alton Brown's recipe which called for everything to be home-made (SCORE!) and that prepping involved an overnight escapade in the refrigerator (double SCORE!).

As I mixed everything up and let everything settle for the night as Alton Brown dictated, I realized my dough was not rising to the occasion. In fact, it was failing miserably. Seeing as it was now about 12pm at night and I was exhausted, I took the advice of BF and heated up his cast iron skillet which so happened to be nestling itself on the back burner of the stove. I placed the bundt cake pan filled with promising 1 oz droplets of butter and sugar onto the skillet and let the residual heat from the skillet help out the lack-luster yeast.

I was tentative to go to sleep and kept a weary eye on the pan, but my REM cycle was calling to me and I reluctantly left those monkeys in the pan to fend for themselves. My stress and anxiety were for naught when I woke up to find a pan full of puffy balls ready for baking! SUCCESS! Dad and mom-in-law were on their way to McD's for a cup of coffee and I was ready to bust their chops with a full Sunday brunch of Poppy Eggs and Meat! Get ready, because here it comes!!

EDIT: Here's the recipe for Alton Brown's Monkey Bread found on the Food Network

Overnight Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

Dough:
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 large whole egg, room temperature
2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 6 tablespoons
6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
20 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 cups, plus additional for dusting
1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
Vegetable oil or cooking spray

Topping:
8 ounces unsalted butter, approximately 16 tablespoons
8 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 cup packed
1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary (I replaced this with cinnamon instead)
3 ounces raisins, approximately 3/4 cup (omitted since BF hates raisins)

Coating (I omitted this part since I figured the topping would be enough):
2 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 5 tablespoons
1 teaspoon ground rosemary

Directions:

For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough and add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the 8 ounces of unsalted butter, brown sugar, rosemary, and raisins. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Pour half of the topping into the bottom of 2 bundt pans and set aside. Cover and store the other half of the topping in the refrigerator until the next morning.

Place the melted butter and rosemary for the coating in a medium shallow bowl and stir to combine. Once the dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Portion the dough into 1-ounce pieces; roll each piece into a ball. (You should have approximately 36 balls.) Roll the balls in the melted butter and rosemary.

Divide the balls evenly between the 2 bundt pans. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

Remove the bread from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the bread. Close the oven and let the bread rise until slightly puffy looking, 20 to 30 minutes. Once the bread has risen, remove it and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Once the oven is ready, place the bread on the middle rack and bake until slightly golden on top, approximately 25 to 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.

Place the remaining topping in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Reheat until the mixture is pourable, approximately 5 minutes. Fifteen minutes into baking, pour the remaining topping over the bread, and finish cooking. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then invert onto a platter or cutting board. Serve immediately.