Cardamom Bread, Sweet and Rustic
October 31, 2008|Comments (25)
Bread is my weakness. It calls to me in the night and from the rooftops. Our love is a real and tangible thing. Thankfully, I am not the only one to fall for the steamy fragrant delicious stuff. My darling husband, light of my life, has also fallen into its spongy clutches. I fear that I am partly to blame. **tsk tsk**
Cardamom, a must-have in any Nordic bread, is one of my favorite spices which I learned to use while living in Washington state in Lutheran country (lots of people with Nordic origins there). Prior to moving there, I used cardamom only in curries and sometimes apple pie. Oh, how much I missed!
Now, I will share my favorite cardamom-containing bread recipe but it’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Tbsp instant yeast
- 4 cups flour
- 11/4 cups lukewarm milk or water
- 3/4 cup melted butter or oil
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
1.) Mix flour, yeast, and cardamom in your mixing bowl. Set aside. Eat some Halloween candy. You deserve a reward.
2.) Heat milk and stir in sugar until dissolved. I like to do this in a 4 cup glass measuring cup but do whatever makes you feel like dancing.
3.) Add the milk and sugar to the flour mixture. Add 1/2 cup melted butter or oil, too. Mix on low (if you are using a mixer) until a nice sticky dough forms.
4.) Change out the mixer blade and use a dough hook. Knead for a few minutes and then stop. Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes with a light cover over it (I use a plate and just stick it over the top of the mixing bowl). This is called autolyse (sounds like auto-lease) and is nap time for the dough during which the gluten relaxes and absorbs moisture.
5.) During the autolyse, I wash the dishes and paint my baking pan with rest of the melted butter (or oil). When the twenty minutes is up, begin kneading again and knead in the salt.
6.) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into three equal parts. Let them rise for about 30-45 minutes. Roll the dough balls into ropes and braid them on the greased baking pan. Tuck the ends of the braid under. Sneak another piece of candy. I won’t tell.
7.) Preheat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush the braided loaf with egg and sprinkle it with sugar. Bake until golden brown (about 30 minutes).
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Oh man! I was going to paint all weekend. Now I have, have, have to make this bread. I know! I’ll do both. Thank you so much for sharing and I won’t tell anyone. Honest.
I might live on the edge and give this a try. It sounds delicious, but not sure if I’m up for a “braid”.
I love pictures of breadmaking with a kitchenaid… it totally lets me see if I’m doing it right.
[...] Check out The Very Best of Our Site for a complete listing of the cool stuff on this site. On for goodness sake, hide those candy wrappers before someone sees! Posted by Simple Livin’ gal | Filed Under Cooking , Food, Recipes … Cardamom Bread, Sweet and Rustic : Razor Family Farms [...]
Oh my goodness, Lacy! I think my “diet” just got postponed until Monday (very big grin)…thanks so much for the recipe! Looks absolutely fantastic!!
Beautiful bread! Guess I’ll have to go sniff the cardamom!
Beautiful bread! That looks like a good thing to bake this weekend!
I love love love the flavor of cardamom - don’t even know how to describe it, really. Have you ever tried it in a shortbread cookie? OH HELLO MAMA!!
A wonderful bread! With cardamom, it must taste really good! A refined flavor that would go perfectly well with my Pumpkin Jam…
Cheers,
Rosa
Looks great! Can you move closer to me?
Nothing taste better than homemade bread. Yum-yum. So, did you use six strand for the braid, or three strand on the bottom and then placed another three strand on the top. I have done the six strands before and got lost in the middle of it. LOL I need to practice more. I do like the round four strand braided loaf. That’s a pretty one.
It looks wonderful! I’m not much for baking bread but I sure love to eat it! =P
Hey Applie! I used six strands because I think it looks so much better but it doesn’t really matter which one you use — three is the easiest by far. Truth be told — you could make this bread into a loaf and it would be delicious. When braiding with six strands, I actually start in the middle and braid down one side then turn my pan and braid the other end from the middle. It just works out better for me that way. My ends are no where near as pretty as my grandmother’s!
Blessings!
Lacy
Ann — Did you say shortbread cookie? Oh my…. I can’t even think straight now. I MUST have a shortbread cookie with cardamom. It’s a need I can’t explain!
This is my cousin’s favorite Christmas bread!!!
She bakes tons of it and gives it away…to us even! Yummy! Think I’ll wait for Christmas on this one, let HER make it! (I’ve got tons of cinnamon rolls to get made this weekend!)
I’ll have to send her this and see how close it is to hers.
(questions Lacy…how clean is your kitchen since you are always baking something? Bet You don’t make your own scented candles either…you wouldn’t need them with aromas continuosly flowing from your oven!)
~Hugs~
Momma Barb
That looks INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just a great big YUMMMMMM - I also adore bread - in all it’s various guises, tastes and textures (well not that white stuff we use to feed the catfish here in the south - you know a loaf a foot and a half long that can squish down to a couple of baseball sized wads). Your cardamon bread looks beautiful and the smell I can just imagine! Great - and I’m supposed to be losing 30 pounds in the next 12 months!
That looks fabulous!! I will try making it this week and bring it to my son’s house when I visit him for our cooking class. He LOVES fresh bread. Beer bread is his fav.
Yummy! I’m really needing to bake some bread, it’s been ages since I did it from scratch.
That looks SO GOOD! I love bread.
Wow, this bread looks super delicious……………
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It looks delicious. I wish I could eat bread. Of course I would probably look like a big braided loaf if I could; well, more than I do.
OH YUM! Bread calls to me from the rooftops as well. I can’t pass a bakery without crying….Going to have to try this recipe! NOW!!
Girl, you know it, I totally need more of your recipe’s…everytime I make one of yours, I think my husband falls more in love with me. :o)
My wife Claire (who is Swedish ancestry) LOVES to bake, and she does these absolutely lovely breads as contributions to potlucks and so forth.
So far she’s always getting invites to socials at church, and after sending a couple to work, I think my annual reviews have gotten better!
(and there’s nothing like a warm slice of cardamom bread with some hot Swedish coffee in the morning. Butter optional.)