Bubble Bread

It's winter again and this year has been colder than most. Fields of snow instead of corn are passed on drives to work. Icicles hang from awnings, threatening to crash down on any who pass underneath. It makes the child-within exuberate with memories of the Yule-time warmth of family, friends, snow-days and most importantly, home made food. All families fight, insult and yell, but when there is a holiday spread, no one in mine can seem to keep their mouths empty long enough to argue or complain. The holidays gave us a rare opportunity to work together and equally put forth effort to get food on the table and in our stomachs. Nothing got me in this spirit more readily than the mention of dessert. One specialty in particular was enough to make my mouth water at the mere mention: bubble bread. Bubble bread can be compared to a bunt shaped cinnamon roll with nugget-sized pieces that are picked apart when eaten. The following recipe is easy to make, kid-friendly and great with coffee or tea.

The very first thing you will want to do is preheat your oven to 350° F. After washing your hands, you will want to begin by prepping a bunt pan by lightly spraying the inside with non-stick oil. After that is completed, you will need four tubes of buttermilk biscuits (the peel, whack and pop variety). These biscuits usually come in packs of four. You or a nearby idling child can pop them open and make stacks of biscuits, two high. Start cutting these stacks into quarters and hand the pieces to your "sous-chef", if applicable. Place them, a couple at a time, into a gallon sized storage bag filled with three-fourths cup of sugar and a tablespoon of cinnamon. Shake the bag vigorously to coat the pieces with the mixture. When coated, remove the pieces and start layering them in the bunt pan until you no longer have anymore "bubbles" left. The  bunt pan should be a little less than half-filled with dough.

Setting the pan aside, melt 1½ sticks of margarine in a medium saucepan, stirring in one-half cup of sugar until it has dissolved. Boil the mixture for three minutes and add a tablespoon of maple syrup at the last moment. Pour the concoction directly onto your bubbles. It may look a little strange, but don't worry. The syrup is absorbed into the bread as it rises in the oven and gives it its cinnamon-bun like quality.

Place the bunt in the preheated oven and bake for thirty minutes. After a solid thirty minutes have elapsed, peek and see how your bubble bread looks. Has it finished rising all the way to the top? Is it a nice shade of brown? Lastly, does it look and smell done? When you have decided it has finished, carefully remove the pan and set it on the counter. Grab a plate that is somewhat larger than the pan and place it, face-down, over the bunt. While holding the plate and pan with thick dishtowels, quickly flip over and turnout the bread. It can be served immediately (recommended) or covered until needed.

Bubble bread is made strictly as a dessert, a sweet appetizer before a large meal, something to bring to a party or just simply to have around for morning coffee. You can even add your own twist to the recipe by adding crushed walnuts, raisins or any other topping you could think of. This quick and simple recipe is sure to please the child and the the child at heart. The only downside is that once the bubbles start to dwindle (and it wont take long), the fighting, insults and yelling wont be too far behind.