This bread is a ubiquitous Scandinavian holiday treat, but can be made year round to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee. In Finland, this bread is known as Pulla or sometimes Nisu depending on the region and often formed into pitko, a braid shaped loaf. In Sweden, this bread may be referred to simply as Vetebröd or specifically as Kardemummabullar (bullar for buns) or Kardemummabröd (bröd for bread loaf). In Norway, this bread is called Julekake (direct translation yule cake) and is almost always made with raisins.
This bread is a typical Fika Item; Fika means "to drink coffee," usually accompanied by something sweet. Fika is a social institution in Sweden; it means having a break, most often a coffeebreak, with one's colleagues, friends, date, or family. The word has quite ambiguous connotations and can mean anything from taking a break from work or other activities, to going on a date. This practice of taking a break, typically with a cinnamon roll or some biscuits or cookies, or sometimes a smörgås or a fruit on the side, is central to Swedish life, and is regularly enjoyed even by the government.
Although the word may in itself imply "taking a break from work," this is often emphasized using the word fikapaus ("fika pause") or fikarast ("fika break"), with kaffepaus and kafferast, respectively, as near synonyms. Fika may also mean having coffee at a café or konditori (a "patisserie-based coffeehouse").
Traditionally, fika requires sweet, baked goods, especially cinnamon rolls. It is also combined in words such as fikabröd ("fika bread") which is a collective name for all kinds of biscuits, cookies, buns, etc that are traditionally eaten with coffee. Non-sweetened breads are normally not included in this term (even though these may sometimes be consumed with coffee). It is also used as a noun, referring to fikabröd and coffee combined.
This is something I had it for the first time here in Gothenburg and absolutely loved it. Don't get disappointed by the length of the post as it is very easy to make and requires only 7 ingredients. So let me share the recipe with you all guys:-
So here goes...
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups milk
1/8 cup sugar, plus one spoonful for glaze
1/8 cup butter
1 egg
2 teaspoons cardamom, preferably seeds but may substitute powder if desperate
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
Makes about 2 medium size loaves.
1. Let’s start with crushing the cardamom seeds. You can substitute powdered cardamom, but using crushed seeds will give a more authentic appearance and taste to the bread.
2. Now to start the bread. Timing is a bit important, as yeast only survives for a few hours and you want it to be as happy as possible so your bread comes out fluffy. So don’t plan to start this recipe and then stop halfway through and try to pick it up the next day. You need a somewhat undisturbed four hour window to complete the process.
3. Yeast is happiest when it is warm, but not too warm! Heat 3/4 cups of milk to a little over lukewarm.
4. Add at least 1/8 cup of sugar. More is okay if you have a sweet tooth. Sugar is yeast’s favorite food. Now add the 2 teaspoons of previously cracked cardamom seeds.
Stir to dissolve the sugar.
5. Add 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast to your slightly warm, sugary milk. Your yeast is going to be very happy! Stir gently to dissolve the yeast. Beat the egg, add to the mixture leaving some for the brushing later on and stir gently.
6. Add the flour, starting with about 1 1/2 cups, mix in with a spoon, you will have to start using your hands to knead in the remaining 1 cup. Kneading takes a bit of energy. Just keep pressing the dough down as hard as you can, then folding in half and pressing down as hard as you can over and over again until the dough is more elastic than crumbly.
7. Once your dough is well kneaded, melt 1/8 cup of butter and pour over the dough.
This is a good time to turn on your oven to 200 degrees. You want to preheat the oven to 200 degrees and then turn it off. This is where your bread is going to rise for the next two hours.
8. Knead some more to integrate all the melted butter. You should end up with a nice ball of elastic-y dough that looks like it will barely make one loaf of bread.
9. Hopefully by now, your oven is preheated to 200 degrees. Turn the oven off. Very important. You don’t want to upset the yeast. You just want to keep it from getting the chills. The oven should be little more than lukewarm. Leave the glass dish in your unheated oven for about two hours. Or you can take it out a little earlier if easier for you, let’s say 1 1/2 hours, but then you should try to make up that 1/2 hour on the other side of the next step before baking. After two hours, your ball of dough should be giant! Now you can see it will make two loaves.
10. Punch down into the ball of dough and knead a few more times. It will deflate slightly when you punch it down in the middle. Not to worry, it will rise again! now finally the dough is ready.
11. Now to braid the loaves, roll them out in a big oval shape and cut the edges as shown in the picture below. I prefer to roll them on a baking sheet or a aluminum foil so that it becomes easy to lift and put it on the oven.
12. If you want to add any filling in this bread, its a good time to add it . Fill in the stuffing in the middle and start closing the the pleats one by one. At the end this is what you get.
13. Braid both loaves. Let sit for about 20 minutes to continue rising. Or add up to half an hour to that if you interrupted the rise earlier in the process. Don’t let it sit for longer though because it will start to deflate as the yeast dies (remember they only live for a few hours) and then the bread will end up small and tough.
14.
To glaze your cardamom bread, use the earlier beaten egg and brush on right before baking. Sprinkle with a spoonful of sugar, or any topping you prefer, such as sliced almonds. Glazing is an essential step for all cardamom breads in every region, whether you call it Pulla, Nisu, Vetebröd, Kardemummabullar, Julekake or something else.
15. Bake loaves or buns for 20-30 minutes at 200 0 c. Bread browns easily, so keep an eye on it. When you are able to stick a tooth pick in the bread and have it come out clean, the bread is done.
