Finnish Christmas Bread

Hi all,
A friend of mine has been telling me for years (and years!) about a bread her aunt used to make. She could never tell me much about it so I could try to duplicate it for her, except that it was sweet-ish. During a house move this fall, she came across her aunt's recipe (from back in the 60s, complete with the splotches of a well-loved favorite recipe) and sent it to me asking that I make it for Thanksgiving. It's a basic sweet dough with the addition of cardamom, so nothing difficult there. It calls for 8 cups of flour, which is entirely too much for our small group, so I want to halve it. Here's the ingredient list:

2 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
4 eggs
8 cups AP flour
1/2 cup melted butter

Seems to me I'd be OK just halving the ingredients as listed, right? I'll definitely use SAF gold yeast with all that sugar (I think that's probably why 2 pkg. of yeast are used in the original recipe). I've compared it to other sweet dough recipes, and I think the halved proportions would be OK. I don't do sweet doughs much, so I thought I'd get some input from all of you.
thanks,
Karen

posted by: karen_noll on November 24, 2013 at 2:49 am in General discussions

reply by: dachshundlady on November 24, 2013 at 7:54 am
I'm no baker chemist, I'll let others comment but it looks delicious. I love cardamon breads. Please post back with results.

reply by: KAF Customer Support on November 24, 2013 at 9:19 am
Karen, your instincts are exactly right. You may simply halve all of the ingredients to make a smaller loaf. Best of luck. ~Jaydl@KAF

reply by: ncgnet on November 24, 2013 at 9:47 am
In my recipes you'll find "Swedish Cardamom Braid or Buns" which is very similar but makes a smaller amount - it only calls for 1 egg, four cups of flour, etc. It makes either three small or two larger braids. Maybe that would work for you.

reply by: ncgnet on November 24, 2013 at 9:49 am
PS:
Forgot to mention that for me, the cardamom is an essential flavor for these breads (Finnish, Swedish, etc.) and I notice your recipe halved would only have 1/2 teaspoon. Depending on how much you like cardamom you might consider keeping the amount at a full teaspoon.

reply by: 4paws2go on November 24, 2013 at 9:37 am
Hiya, Karen! That's very close to a recipe I had been using, to make Pulla bread, for a good friend of Finnish descent. I found mine in the 'Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook'. My friend Eileen was always reminiscing about how WONDERFUL her grandmother's kitchen smelled, when this bread was being baked. She said her family just called it 'coffee bread', but would make it into specially shaped loaves, for Christmas. Normally, it was done as a braid.
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The first time I made it, and brought it over to her, she'd been writing an essay (she was taking writing classes at that time) all about her grandmother, and actually started crying, as soon as she saw and smelled the loaves...We also took the other loaf to her father, who was in his early 90's, and he gave it the thumbs up, so that sealed the deal, for me...lol!
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I am trying to read from my scribbled notes, so allow for boo-boos...
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20 oz. flour
water 2 oz.
milk 7 oz.
eggs 2 (also one for egg wash)
melted butter 4 oz.
sugar 3.5 oz.
salt 1/2 tsp
yeast 2/14 tsp SAF Gold
cardamom 1 heaping tsp ( I grind it fresh)

This makes two loaves, and the original instructions call for braiding, egg wash, and sprinkling with coarse sugar, bake at 350F, for approximately 25-30 minutes.
It is DELICIOUS!
Laura :0))))

reply by: KitchenBarbarian aka Zen on November 24, 2013 at 11:17 am
make sure it's ground cardamom, not the whole seeds (little black pellets) - they are SUPER nasty if you get ahold of a whole one. I love the flavor, but not that concentrated, LOL!

reply by: dachshundlady on November 24, 2013 at 11:26 am
Loved that story 4paws

reply by: karen_noll on November 24, 2013 at 11:47 am
Thanks, everyone for all the input! I'll let you all know after TDay how it went.
Karen

reply by: ncgnet on November 24, 2013 at 11:51 am
My mother's family was Swedish, but one uncle married a woman whose family was Finnish. She was a wonderful person who made the best dinner rolls ever. We kids used to call them "bullets" and I didn't know why, they certainly weren't hard. Then, as a young adult, one of my friends gave me her family's recipe for Pulla, and the penny dropped. Good thing my aunt had a sense of humor!
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Nancy

reply by: karen_noll on November 24, 2013 at 11:59 am
Hey Laura,
The recipe as given to me is from a newspaper article from 1967, and has descriptions for various traditional shapings, such as Lucia's Crown, Christmas Star, Golden Chariot, Pulla (which is I think the braid you mentioned), and my fave Bishop's Wig......unfortunately, the illustrations are missing, but I just love the names. I think I"ll do a trial run before Thursday just to see how the cardamom level is and how it works with the SAF gold yeast. Ironclad rule: NEVER make anything for the first time on a holiday (as me how I know...)
Karen

reply by: 4paws2go on November 24, 2013 at 2:08 pm
This discussion brought back memories of one of our 'old BC members'...tuuliki...she always ended her posts with "Eat More Pulla"!...lol! I forget if I'd saved her personal recipe for the bread, but I'll check. Eileen (my friend) said they also sometimes called it 'Nisu', but more commonly called it Pulla.
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Typo in my posting, oven temp 350F.

And, yeah....the tiny cardamom seeds, MUST be ground quite finely. I just buy the whole pods, at the Indian grocer, and grind as needed, for baking, and then I have them on hand for cooking, etc.
It really is lovely stuff, especially for members of the Cardamom Adoration Society.
Have fun!
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Laura ;0))

reply by: frick on November 24, 2013 at 3:27 pm
Karen, I can't wait to hear how your Cardamom bread turns out. Even though I don't bake with it, I bought some . . . instinctively, I thought 1/2 tsp. for half the loaf seems like not very much. So, do let us know. I want to try one of these breads! Copying them all.

reply by: 4paws2go on November 24, 2013 at 6:31 pm
Here ya go, Karen...probably much like the one you've got on hand...I'd saved tuuliki's to my recipe box...:
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http://community.kingarthurflour.com/node/5024

[uploader's note: does someone have the recipe? the link is no longer active].
Laura

reply by: karen_noll on November 25, 2013 at 4:50 am
Yup, it's almost identical.
And now that I see all these very similar recipes, it reminds me that I was on a hunt for cardamom bread a couple of years ago after visiting Ten Chimneys, the Wisconsin summer home of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine of mid-20th century Broadway fame. They hosted great house parties with glittering guest lists, and were known for the great food served at these parties. One of the house breakfast favorites was Mr. Lunt's cardamom bread....the very same recipe we've been talking about! Guess I've come full circle!
thanks,
Karen

reply by: karen_noll on November 26, 2013 at 5:52 am
Did a test run yesterday in my Zo on a half batch, and only had to adjust the flour a little by adding a few tablespoons. Very tasty, not too sweet, makes great toast. The 1/2tsp of cardamom was not really noticeable, but there was just a hint of "something". Those of you who are members of the Cardamom Adoration Society might want to go for a full tsp even for a half batch. Four cups of flour makes more dough than will work well in a 9x5 loaf pan (which is what I used), so I wound up with a mutant mushroom loaf. I baked the loaf at 375 for about 30 minutes, tenting with foil for the last 5 minutes or so.
Karen

reply by: kathyd on November 26, 2013 at 8:03 am
Karen,
I make a Pulla quite often. My mom loves the cardommon too.
I've never put it in a loaf pan. Always braided the loaf - no mushroom bread there.
Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
KathyD

reply by: karen_noll on November 26, 2013 at 8:11 am
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! I thought of doing a braid, but I was really only interested in taste and how the dough performed. Not sure what I'll do with it on Thursday. I think my friend wants dinner rolls, but maybe I'll get a little festive and make knots. I hope she likes it as much as she remembers.....
Karen

reply by: kathyd on November 26, 2013 at 3:29 pm
It's funny how somethings we remember aren't quite always as we remember them.
Don't know if the ingredients change over time or what it is....sometimes it just isn't the same.
Good luck and I hope she loves it.
You are such a nice friend to do this for her.
KathyD

reply by: karen_noll on November 26, 2013 at 5:04 pm
Holiday dinners at her house are a group effort. Everyone brings a thing or two, so me bringing bread is a good fit. I hope she loves it, too. She doesn't like cardamom, so she asked that I leave it out, and it tastes like every other sweet dough I've ever had. I only added some cardamom yesterday to see how it tasted. It may be a non event for me, though, I sprained a toe last night (I tripped over the bread machine if you can believe it...). I'm still hobbling around and can't get into a shoe, and since my car has a manual transmission, I'm not sure I can drive, either. I'll see how it is on Thursday.
sigh.....

reply by: frick on November 26, 2013 at 5:37 pm
I keep telling my DH about the things I would never have known had it not been for this forum. Yesterday, I got a new book set in Finland, quite by accident. There leaping out at me was this line,
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"He has his sh#% together. He's showered, dressed, made coffee, and has pulla . . . hot from the oven in case we haven't eaten".
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I mean, really, gals. How many times have I ever heard of pulla? About as many times as a bird has fingers . . LOL

reply by: dachshundlady on November 26, 2013 at 6:29 pm
Karen, I hurt my rotator cuff a couple years ago. At the time I had a manual transmission Mini Cooper Clubman. Between the injury, the heavy doors on car and my shoulder, I decided to trade it in. I now have an automatic Toyota Matrix. Much easier though not nearly as cool as the Cooper!

reply by: bakeraunt on November 26, 2013 at 6:35 pm
My husband is not fond of cardamom. I, however, had a Swedish grandmother I never got to meet, so maybe I have a genetic disposition to be fond of it. I bake a Swedish Coffee Ring for Christmas with an almond paste filling, and I note that he eats it and does not mind the cardamom. I did overdo cardamom one year in Hot Cross Buns, probably because my cardamom seeds were newly purchased, and the flavor was a lot stronger than what I usually used; it toned down a bit with age. I have agreed to leave it out of the Hot Cross Buns, but it is staying in the Swedish Coffee Ring.
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I buy the white cardamom from Penzey's, open the pods to take the seeds out, then crush them with a mortar and pestle until it is a fine powder.
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I will have to try the Pulla--and not tell him it has cardamom in it!

reply by: dachshundlady on November 26, 2013 at 7:45 pm
Oh man, bakeraunt. Cardamom AND almond paste. My dream sweet.

reply by: karen_noll on November 26, 2013 at 8:26 pm
I've been buying cars with manual transmissions for a good long time now. Only ever had one automatic, and I felt like a passenger rather than a driver. I'll deal with the sprain, won't give up the car. One of these days they just won't make cars I want in five speed, and then I'll have to deal, but not just yet......

reply by: bakeraunt on November 26, 2013 at 9:04 pm
My husband and I have a mixed marriage: he insists on manual transmission, and I insist on automatic.

reply by: KitchenBarbarian aka Zen on November 26, 2013 at 10:17 pm
BWAH HA HA HA HA! Mixed marriage indeed!
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I have tried for years to convince my son to learn to drive stick. He utterly refuses. I even tried to pull this on him while he was in high school:
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"What will your friends think when they find out your mama can drive stick but you can't?"
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"Mom, you taught me not to CARE what other people think!"
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*sigh*. How our good intentions DO backfire on us! LOL!