Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Tuesdays With Dorie : Finnish Pulla

I was supposed to post Ginger Bread Baby Cakes two weeks ago.. But, my cakes ended up being a disaster.. The only thing I could taste of them was the molasses.. No spice, no ginger, nothing.. Me throwing away any baked good means a lot.. They were that bad.. 


It is a different story with today's recipe.. I loved loved it.. It is called Finnish Pulla, and it is a mildy-sweetened bread spiced with crushed cardamom seeds.. It is kind of like Challah but with the wonderful aroma of cardamom.. Wikipedia says Finnish would usually serve it with coffee or at special occasions.. I had mine with Turkish strawberry jam, that I bought from Turkish grocery store here.. Both being delicious, makes the perfect breakfast item or dessert after a casual dinner..


Let's talk about the process: It is a yeast bread.. When the yeast is creamy I mixed it with milk, sugar, cardamom, salt and eggs.. Then some of the flour, then the melted butter, then the rest of the flour until it is stiff but not dry.. This is the most difficult part for me in any recipe, to decide how much flour is enough when they tell you how it should feel like.. I put 4.5 cups in total.. It was very stiff to mix at that point.. Then comes the kneading, followed by first rise and shaping.. The recipe calls for braiding and shaping it as a wreath, but I did 2 loaves.. After the second rise, I glazed the loaves and sprinkled with decorating sugar and almonds.. And put it into 375F oven.. The smell coming out of oven while baking is amazing.. Our place smelled like cardamom even the next day.. The bread is delicious with an intense cardamom aroma and pillowy texture..

This recipe is perfect breakfast bread and definitely a keeper for me.. I will bake it again and again when we have guests for breakfast.. If you want to try it, you can find the recipe at Erin's blog The Daily Morsel, or page 106 of Baking with Julia..

Thanks for stopping by..



17 comments:

  1. Gorgeous bread and pictures! I want to make it again in a loaf shape, more crumb!

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    1. Thanks Paula.. I think the same for your wreath :)

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  2. Your bread looks great. The almonds make it pretty. I loved this bread too and can't wait to make it again. So glad it was better than those gingerbread baby cakes. (wasn't a fan either)

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    1. Thanks :) I couldn't eat the cakes, mine only tested like blackstrap molasses..

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  3. Welcome back to the fold. I wouldn't let the "failure" of a recipe deter you from posting. For the babycakes I used "Full flavor" molasses. As deep/dark/strong tasting my first baby cakes were, I can only imagine the depths yours reached if you used black strap.

    Your pulla loaves are lovely and browned throughout. When, not if, I make these again, I think I'll go loaf, and make sure I have the sliced almonds on hand.

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    1. It was too much effort to photograph and write a post for something I could not even swallow. It only tasted black strap molasses.. Lesson learnt, no black strap to be used in any recipe..

      THanks :)

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  4. Beautiful photos! Yeah - the baby cakes were a fail in my book too. ~Happy Holidays

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  5. I see this as a perfect brunch offering - it would be the star of the table! Your loaves turned out beautifully.

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    1. Thanks Teresa! I agree , great for breakfast/brunch..

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  6. The jam looks wonderful on the bread, and I'm sure it tastes even better! Glad to hear you liked this recipe.

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  7. That jam looks delicious on the bread! Planning a trip to Turkey next year - will definitely have a go at the jam.

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    1. Turkish breakfast is the best, enjoy your trip :)

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