This sweet cardamom coffee bread, traditionally comes from Finland, and was often served in my home at Christmas time (my dad's dad was Finnish, my maiden name is Seppä). I have memories of braiding pulla (pronounced poo-lah) with my Grandma Seppä, my dad and my step-mom as a kiddo. I also remember my family making lots of pulla and delivering it to friends and family over the holidays. This was the first year that I've been able to share the tradition of making pulla with my daughter, Emma. She takes great delight in braiding the bread!
Although Grandma Seppä never ever used a bread machine to make hers, I will humbly admit that this recipe and "project" turns into something very do-able with the aid of the dough cycle. Although the process itself from start to finish is quite time consuming (about 3 hours), there is very little hands-on time.
Ingredients
- 1 egg and 1 yolk (save white for glaze)
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3 T butter
- 4 1/2 T sugar
- 3/4 t salt
- 1 1/2 t cardamom
- 3 c flour
- 1 T yeast
- 1-2 T sugar for glaze
- 1-2 T slivered almonds for glaze
- Put all the ingredients in the bread machine pan and set the cycle for white bread DOUGH.
- After cycle is finished, punch down, cut dough in thirds, and let rest for 5 minutes
- Roll each third of dough into a 20 inch rope and braid ropes togther, tucking ends under
- Place braid on buttered cookie sheet
- Cover bread and let rise in a warm place until about 50% larger in size
- Brush with egg white, then sprinkle with almonds and sugar
- Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
- When making these for gifts, I often divide the dough into 9 pieces to make 3 smaller loaves from one batch of dough.
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