No need to preheat your oven for this cold-start Cinnamon Swirl Cake

ARE YOU ONE of those impatient souls who already skips preheating the oven? We’ll pause for you to say, “Ha; I told you so!” to your nearest and dearest, because I’m about to declare to the world that you’ve been right all along. In fact, plenty of dishes benefit from going into a cold oven.

In 2018, Shaheen Peerbhai and Jennie Levitt made a splash with juicy, tender cold-oven roast chicken in their book “Paris Picnic Club.” In recent years, a stack of writers have proclaimed some cold-oven recipes. Zoe Denenberg highlighted the Southern classic cold-oven pound cake, but noted that bacon fat renders beautifully this way. Shilpa Uskokovic praised the results of toasting nuts with this method. For King Arthur Baking, Kye Ameden evaluated Dutch oven breads, while PJ Hamel tested two dozen recipes; both found plenty to praise.

While I wouldn’t risk a cold start with time-consuming laminated dough, in general I found that breaking the “thou shalt preheat” commandment worthwhile.

Cold-oven pound cake is renowned for its caramelized crust and tall rise. These appeared on every quick bread and muffin I baked, whether they used baking soda, baking powder or both. I had no expectations that babka or yeast-raised sandwich loaf would do well, but I skipped their final rises and popped them into a cold oven, baking the loaves to an internal temperature of 190°F. All was well in both cases, and this method trims about 25 minutes off the process.

I definitely expected soggy time-to-clean-the-oven results when I set my preferred crunchy-cardboard-crusted frozen pizza into a cold oven. The cold start increased the baking time by two minutes for the toasted cheese color I like, but the crust had a lighter crispness that I enjoyed.

Do you fear that cookies will ooze into a giant pan-size mess? Fear not. My molasses cookies had more even tops, better chew and richer color than their preheated-oven pals.

Interestingly, a dozen cold-oven chocolate chip cookies weren’t discernibly different from their control batch. In both cases, the cold oven start added four minutes to the baking time. Because my GE model takes nine minutes to get to 350°F, a cold start actually reduced oven use for cookies by five minutes. (The Whirlpool website claims average ovens take 12 to 15 minutes to reach 350°F.)

In the interests of energy saving, I’m not suggesting cooling the oven down between batches for these improved results. Instead, look for ways of streamlining cooking processes. Slinging slices of bacon directly into a cold oven and setting the temperature to 425°F for a batch of biscuits meant that the bacon was perfectly crisp when my biscuit dough was ready.

For a low-effort breakfast, mix this Cinnamon Swirl Cake frosting a day in advance. The cake and filling stir together in no more time than a pot of coffee needs to brew, leaving you with a leisurely, cinnamon-scented morning.

Cinnamon Swirl Cake
Serves 9
— adapted from Fleischmann’s Yeast
Frosting:
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar

Cake:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
4½ teaspoons (2 packets) instant yeast
¾ cup warm milk (125°F)
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla

Filling:
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, softened

1. For the frosting: In a small bowl, blend butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, and beat smooth. Set aside while you finish the cake.

2. For the cake: Butter an 8×8-inch baking dish.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, salt and yeast.

4. In a separate small bowl, stir together milk, melted butter, egg and vanilla.

5. Pour wet ingredients into the dry mixture all at once, and stir until you have a soft, sticky dough. Scrape into a prepared dish, and set aside.

6. For the filling: In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon. Mash in softened butter with a spatula. Evenly sprinkle mixture across the top of the dough. Using your fingertips, poke filling into the dough, making small pockets from edge to edge.

7. Place the cake on the middle rack of oven, then set temperature to 350°F. Bake about 25 minutes, until it’s set and pale gold and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before spreading the frosting.