This is a pretty traditional Christmas bread from Norway (My family
is Norwegian and German). I say "pretty traditional" because I don't
use the nuclear fruit that most recipes call for; the only exception
being candied citron, because I can't find anything to replace it
that matches the flavor. The scent of this bread is just heavenly.
Ground cardamom is the traditional flavoring for this bread, and
there absolutely is no substitute for it. It's not Julekaka w/out the
cardamom! Make sure to read the Notes at the end of the recipe for
helpful tips!
I will be making a big batch of this next weekend to give to
friends. This is definitely a bread that should be shared!
Norwegian Julekaka
1 c. water
3/4 c. golden raisons
1/2 c. dried cherries
1/4 c. dried unflavored cranberries
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (or instant--whichever you prefer)
1/4 c. warm water (110-115 F)
1/2 c. sugar (if you want the bread sweeter, you can add up to 3/4 c.)
1 tsp. table salt
2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 c. butter--room temp.
1 c. milk--scalded (whole milk is best)
3 3 1/2 c. unbleached bread flour
1/2 small to medium orange--zested and completely juiced w/pulp
1/2 c. chopped citron
About 2 tbs. of egg wash
1) Combine the dried fruit (minus the citron) w/ 1 c.of water and
bring to a boil. Let the fruit steep for 10 minutes and then drain
off the water.
2) Bloom the yeast in the warm water until foamy.
3)In a large bowl (or your mixer), combine the sugar, salt, &
cardamom. Add the butter right on top, and then pour the hot milk
over everything. Let stand until cool (about body temperature). Stir
the mixture occasionally so the butter melts and sugar dissolves.
4) Add the bloomed yeast to the cooled milk mixture and whisk to combine.
5) Add 1 1/2 c. of the flour and beat until very smooth.
6) Add the pulpy orange, zest, all the dried fruit, and the citron. Beat well.
7) Begin adding the rest of flour, gradually, until a soft dough
forms. Let the dough rest at this point for 15 minutes.
8) Knead the dough until smooth, shiny, and elastic. Form into a
large ball, put into a large greased bowl, turn over to grease the
top. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until double.
9) Punch the dough down, pull the edges to the center, turn it over
and let rise again until nearly doubled.
10) Punch down and turn out the dough onto floured surface.
11) Ligtly grease a 9-inch round cake pan. Shape the dough into a
round ball and place in greased cake pan. Flatten the top just
slightly. Cover and let it rise for about 45 minutes in a warm spot,
until doubled. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
12) Take a pair of scissors and make 3-5 "pinches" (it's hard to
describe how to do this with scissors) across the top. Bake in the
oven until the top just begins to turn golden (about 45 minutes).
Remove from the oven, brush with egg wash, return, and bake another
10 minutes until well browned.
13) Cool the bread for 10 minutes in the pan, and then turn out to
finish cooling on a rack.
NOTES:
1) For the orange: Instead of juicing the traditional way, which is
hard on my wrists, I peel the orange after zesting it, remove any
seeds and whirl up the whole thing in the food processor and then use
it as is. I don't strain the juice or anything.
2) Julekaka can be iced with your favorite danish/doughnut icing. I
like to combine powdered sugar with a little corn syrup, a pinch of
salt, a little vanilla, and just enough milk to make an icing of the
consistancy that I like. I'll ice the bread when it's just a bit warm
(after about 30 minutes of cooling).
3) Although the recipe doesn't call for it, I almost always add 2tsp
of buttery sweet dough flavoring (which I get from King Arthur), and
2 tsp of vanilla extract (I love Tahitian vanilla extract for this
recipe. The floral frangrance of it complements the cardamom nicely).