Suchitra is passionate about cooking flavorful food and loves fusion…
Suchitra Vaidyaram with her own twist on Pulla, a Finnish sweet cardamom flavored bread.
By Suchitra Vaidyaram
Pulla is a Finnish sweet cardamom flavored bread (also finnish sweet rolls). What makes this really awesome is the cardamom flavor that is inherent in the bread – it’s not sickly sweet and would make you come back for more.
I can’t tell you how long I have been waiting to make this bread but never had an opportunity. It’ s a braided bread and I found out that there are couple of techniques to get them braided (thanks to youtube). Though the technique I followed is not an easy one, I still could pull this one off. If you are someone, who can make bread without a sweat then there will be no concerns for you. However, for people like me, who have to think this like a big project here are couple of pointers- the trick is kneading the dough to let the yeast work it’s magic and giving enough rest time for the dough to rise.
PrintFinnish Pulla with a Twist
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- Author: Suchitra Vaidyaram
- Total Time: 2 hours
Description
A delicious Finnish bread recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 pkt dry yeast (about 7 to 8 gms)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt (can skip if you use salted butter)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tsp crushed cardamom seeds
- 4–5 cups flour (all purpose)
- 1 stick melted unsalted butter
- 1 egg mixed with a bit of water for egg wash
- for filling-
- 2–3 tbsp softened butter
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Instructions
- Heat milk till it is lukewarm.
- Pour milk into large bowl and stir in the yeast.
- Allow the yeast to awaken and let it sit for about 7 minutes.
- Add egg, crushed cardamom, sugar and salt and whisk till they are incorporated.
- Stir in about 1 cup of flour, melted butter and whisk into a batter.
- Add the rest of the flour.
- Knead for about 10 minutes with your hands on a lightly floured surface. (If it is too sticky, add a bit of flour).
- The kneaded dough should be springy to touch.
- Place the dough in a bowl and cover bowl with cling wrap/ towel and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
- In the meanwhile, mix the filling ingredients together.
- Once your dough has risen and doubled in size, knock the air out and Knead it gently for a couple of minutes on a lightly floured surface.
- Roll the dough into a oblong or an oval shape with a roller on a parchment paper.
- with the help of a pizza cutter, make slanting cuts along both sides (be careful not to cut deep as we need the space in middle for the filling)
- Just ensure that the strips you cut are equal in number on both sides and are of the same length on both sides.
- Spread the filling in middle.
- Leaving the end closest to the filling attached, start braiding the strips over the filling tucking in the loose ends.
- Tuck the end and pinch the dough to seal it off.
- Cover with dish towel and let it sit at least 15 minutes to rise again before baking it.
- About 5 minutes before baking, give it a quick egg wash.
- Bake them at 200 degree celsius for about 15-20 minutes on a preheated oven.
- Enjoy with a cuppa steaming coffee.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins
Suchitra is passionate about cooking flavorful food and loves fusion cooking. She records her recipes on the blog Flavors, which focuses on simple and easy to cook recipes.
it’s close. I’m Finn. The dough needs to be elastic to almost overworked. Finnish kids learn to bake with the leniency of pulla. I am so happy you enjoy what has reminded me of home.