Tuesday, December 18, 2012

TWD: Baking with Julia - Finnish Pulla

Finnish Pulla!  This was our recipe this week for the Tuesdays with Dorie group.  I have to admit, when I read that we were making a Finnish Pulla, my only thought was "what in the world is THAT?"  Just in case you are thinking the same thing, here is what I learned via Wikipedia:  A pulla bread is a mildly sweet Finnish roll or dessert bread often flavored with cardamom seeds and sometimes raisins or sliced almonds.  They tend to be braided, formed into a circle, buttered and sprinkled with sugar and almonds.  Okay, that definitely sounds good to me!

As it turns out, the Finnish Pulla in this recipe seems pretty close to the original.  The glaze on top of the dough is made with egg and milk instead of melted butter but other than that this seems pretty authentic.  And I must say, YUM.  It is quite lovely.  It calls for cardamom seeds in the pod which you then crush.  This was an extra exciting bit for me as it gave me an excuse to use the mortar and pestle we have had since we got married and have used VERY rarely.  Yippee!  I didn't crush them into a uniform powder, but left some pieces a little bigger than others, which was nice.  The cardamom flavor is very light. The bread itself is very soft and airy, sort of like a challah bread.



Making the bread is very straightforward and much less time-intensive than many other breads in this cookbook and in general, for that matter.  It does have two rise sessions, but they are both very short so this bread can easily be made in an afternoon.  I didn't even turn on my beloved mixer, though I could have.  I simply chose to mix in the flour by hand this time.

I have the feeling my wreath has a larger circumference than is intended, though I thought I started with the suggested 36-inch strands.  Maybe they stretched as I braided?  Larger circumference or not, the bread rose fine and puffed nicely in the oven.

The recipe calls for "pearl" sugar for the top, and I am not totally sure what that is other than larger than normal grains of sugar??  Is it the Kosher salt of the sugar world?  I am not sure, but I happened to have "icing" sugar which is in fact large kosher salt-sized grains of sugar so this is what I sprinkled atop the bread.  This made the clever girl positively THRILLED, as it meant that the bread had SPRINKLES on top.  Everything is better with sprinkles!

The recipe also calls for sliced almonds, for which I substituted chopped hazelnuts.  For some reason I happened to have chopped hazelnuts on hand but no sliced almonds.  I have no idea how this happened but the end result was delicious.  I am certain that the almonds would be fantastic as well.

I toasted the bread slightly and served it with breakfast in the morning.  It would be perfect with a nice mug of coffee or tea.  This is definitely something I'll make again.  It would make an amazing gift or contribution to a brunch.  A keeper!!

For the recipe, please visit our hostess' blog, The Daily Morsel.  You could also visit the Tuesdays with Dorie blog and click on the "LYL - Finnish Pulla" tab.  This is where we all leave our blog links to the posts we make about our recipes! 

Does anyone else have any favorite holiday breads they enjoy?

18 comments:

  1. Yours looks great - I like the look of the larger circle. Icing sugar in Canada is called (I think) confectioner's or powdered sugar in the States. It's interesting to see the differences in names for things.

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  2. This was a lovely bread. Gorgeous loaf!
    Pearl sugar is a larger grained sugar and tends to be a specialty item. I know you can order it through King Arthur Flour, and probably other places.

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  3. This was a lovely bread. Gorgeous loaf!
    Pearl sugar is a larger grained sugar and tends to be a specialty item. I know you can order it through King Arthur Flour, and probably other places.

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  4. I had fun pulling out my mortar and pestle, too! I didn't use pearl sugar, but have been looking for it ever since I made this bread...to no avail. Your loaf is beautifully done. Happy holidays!!!

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  5. Love the sugar topping, it looks gorgeous! And hazelnuts?! Yum! Your wreath does look giant, but I am sure it tasted good all the same! Wonderful job.

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  6. Love the look of your wreath!! Looks awesome. I didn't have pearl sugar either, just used my raw sugar and it worked well. Love the bread toasted the next day. My husband said it reminded him of Challah bread as well. I look forward to making it again. And am soooo glad I used the cardamom and got to use my mortar and pestle as well! :o)

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  7. Love the crumb on your loaf! I could have eaten this whole thing by myself (and just might be hoarding half my braid in the freezer for midnight snacks!).

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  8. Yours is looking soo good.. and you managed the bow.. i couldnt do that!! I enjoyed mine.. and the dough behaved so beautifully!!

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  9. The hazelnuts sound and look great! This was a huge loaf huh? Nicely done. I did not want to buy another type of sugar so I used Carmen's idea of crushing sugar cubes - worked great. Beautiful wreath.

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  10. Love the idea of hazelnuts. I couldn't get my hands on pearl sugar so I just did the egg wash and left it at that.

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  11. I agree! Definitely a keeper! :)

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  12. I think (no I am sure!)this has become my favourite Christmas holiday bread. It was so delicious! So glad I've doubled the recipe and frozen some!
    You made a beautiful wreath... I forgot the bow, ups!

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  13. Looks beautiful. Glad this turned out so well for you. Hope to be making our gf version in the near future. Just didn't have enough time.

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  14. Ah, holiday breads! My favorite topic right now! Haha. Anyway, I thought the cardamom flavor was light as well. I would probably increase that the next time. I love the look of your bread!

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  15. Beautifully done! Will be serving mine on Christmas morning!

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  16. A lovely post and beautiful bread!

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  17. Beautiful wreath! I chose to make it by hand too and I really enjoyed the whole process. Happy holidays!

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  18. I am always happy when I can use my mortar and pestle too! It was hard to crush the seeds finely, so I had larger pieces too. Still tasted great. Good job!

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