Author Notes
Every year when I bake Swedish Cardamom bread for our Christmas morning brunch, I wonder why I reserve it for Christmas alone. It is beautiful, relatively easy to make, and tastes so tender and delicious. This recipe comes from my Swedish grandmother.
This bread features cardamon prominently. The key is to grind the cardamom seeds just before adding to dough. (Do not use pre-ground cardamom powder. It is not the same.) I like to hull the pods, then grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle until they are fine, but still contain some larger chunks (think pre-ground pepper and course pepper ground in your mill for a size comparison). The courser bits add a flavorful crunch when biting the bread.
This bread starts with scalded milk that is mixed with butter, sugar, salt, and cardamon. The milk and butter base makes for an exceptionally tender bread. The dough is left to rise and then braided into beautiful loaves that are then topped with Swedish pearl sugar. —My Pantry Shelf
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Ingredients
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3/4 cup
milk
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1/3 cup
sugar
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1 1/2 teaspoons
salt
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1/2 cup
unsalted butter
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1 teaspoon
cardamon
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2 1/4 teaspoons
yeast
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4 cups
all-purpose flour
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1
egg
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1/2 cup
warm water
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2 tablespoons
Swedish Pearl Sugar
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1
egg white
Directions
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Combine sugar, salt, and butter in a medium size bowl. Scald the milk and pour over the mixture. Stir occasionally until butter is melted and mixture has cooled slightly.
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Crush cardamon using a mortar and pestle until it resembles course black pepper. Add to the scalded milk mixture.
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In a separate bowl, sprinkle yeast on warm water, stir to dissolve.
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In a large bowl, combine milk mixture, egg, yeast mixture, and 1 cup of flour. Beat well until smooth. Add remaining flour until dough is still supple, but not sticky. Knead 5 minutes (or less if you are using a mixer).
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Remove dough to an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled (1 hour or so).
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Punch down and let rest 10 minutes.
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Divide dough into 6 equal parts.
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With your hands, make dough balls into ropes approximately 12 inches long. (The key to a nice looking braid is starting with the same amount of dough in each rope and making the ropes the same length and width.)
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Take 3 of the ropes and line up parallel to each other. Pinch the tops of the ropes together. Braid the dough from the top down. When you get to the bottom, pinch together the base and tuck under the bread. (If you don’t like the look of the top of the braid, at this point you can go back and redo the top). Redo with last 3 dough balls.
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Place braids on a baking sheet, leaving room for them to rise. Cover braids and a let rise 45 minutes. Brush with egg white mixed with 1 Tablespoon of water. This will create a nice shiny crust. Sprinkle with the pearl sugar.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake loaves 40-50 minutes. Cover with foil the last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning.
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Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
The bounty of each season is worth celebrating! Most of the meals I cook for my hungry family of four are based on whatever is fresh and bountiful in our yard or what we can glean from the yards of our friends and neighbors. The seasonal food we have in surplus goes into the canning jars. Even busy families can find time for fresh, homemade foods.
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