Pulla: Finnish Cardamom Bread

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For several years now, we've had a recipe for pulla, or Finnish cardamom bread, sitting in our cupboard.  One of my Canadian relatives gave it to us a few years ago.  I've slightly changed the original recipe, and I think it's a keeper for sure!

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• Questions
• How to Make
• Pro Tips
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Questions

What is pulla bread?

Pulla bread is a soft, fluffy cardamom dessert served with a hot cup of coffee.  The dough is braided into a large loaf or rolled into buns, and can be sprinkled with sliced almonds or pearl sugar.  This is just as popular with coffee in Finland as donuts are in the United States!

How to Pronounce Pulla

Want to pronounce "pulla" correctly in Finnish?  It's pronounced POOL-ah.

How to Braid Pulla

Feel free to braid it in a simple three-strand braid, or another pattern, such as the four-strand braid that I use in this recipe.  Check out this video tutorial on how to braid several different kinds of braids.  Here's how I did my four-strand braid, with the photo tutorial below.

• Think of the strands being in positions 1-4, from left to right.
• Cross the strand in spot 4 over the one in spot 3.
• Cross the strand in spot 2 over the one in spot 1.
• Cross the strand in spot 2 over the one in spot 3.
• Repeat this pattern until the whole loaf is braided.

How to Eat Pulla Bread

Serve a large braided pulla cut in thick slices with a cup of coffee.  Spread a little butter on each slice if desired.  Although this is non-traditional, you can also tear the pulla with your hands, like you would with challah.

Pulla Bread vs. Challah vs. Brioche

Pulla is similar to challah and brioche, two other types of sweet yeast breads.  Let's compare and contrast these three breads so we can understand the differences.

• Pulla contains milk, butter, eggs, and sugar.
• Challah contains water, olive oil, eggs, and honey.  Since this bread must be kosher, it does not contain dairy.
• Brioche contains larger quantities of milk, butter, eggs, and sugar than pulla does, making it even richer.

Can I freeze pulla?

• Yes, you can definitely freeze pulla.  It's best to freeze it once it has been baked and fully cooled.
• Seal in a zip-top freezer bag or wrap it tightly in layers of plastic wrap and foil.
• Freeze for up to 1 month.
• Defrost in at room temperature for an hour or two, toast individual slices, or microwave until warm.

How to Make

Gather the ingredients: you'll need bread flour, fast-action yeast, salt, eggs, sugar, cardamom, butter, and milk.

Melt the butter in the saucepan, then add the milk and heat to 115 F on a thermometer.  Remove from the heat.

Whisk together the butter/milk mixture, the eggs, cardamom, salt, and sugar until well combined.  Sprinkle the yeast on top and whisk until smooth.

Gradually add the bread flour, mixing with your hand as you go, until a slightly sticky dough has formed.  Make sure to pick up all the flour from the sides of the bowl.

Knead the dough on a floured surface for 10-15 minutes, until it's smooth and much less sticky.  A piece of dough should be able to stretch thin enough for you to see light through it.  This is called the windowpane test.

Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover tightly, and let it prove in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and divide it into 4 equal pieces, using a kitchen scale to make each piece the same weight.

Roll each piece of dough into a rope about 2 feet long.

Lay the four strands side by side and squeeze them together at the top.  Mentally label the strands 1-4, from left to right.

Start the four-strand braid by crossing strand 4 over strand 3, as in the photo below.

Now, cross strand 2 over strand 1.

Finally, cross the new strand 2 over strand 3.

Repeat this pattern until the loaf is beautifully braided.  Squeeze the ends of the braid together to seal, and cut off the extra dough on the ends with a bench scraper.  You can use the offcuts to make a mini 4-strand loaf.  It will give you extra practice with braiding.

Place the loaf on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and cover with a large, clean garbage bag.  Let the dough prove until it springs back quickly when prodded with a fingertip, about 30 minutes.

If you don't have store-bought pearl sugar to decorate the loaf, make your own.  Pour ½ cup of sugar into a skillet over medium-low heat.  Stir in just enough water to clump the sugar together.  Cook the sugar clumps until you can pick them up easily with a spoon.

Once the bread is proved, brush the dough with a lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle generously with the pearl sugar.  Don't forget to do this to the mini loaf, if you made one.

Bake the loaf at 375 F for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300 F and bake for another 10-15 minutes.  It is done when it has an internal temperature of at least 190 F.  If it's getting too dark during the baking, cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil.  The mini loaf will bake faster, so keep an eye on it.

Let the pulla cool completely on a wire rack before slicing and serving with a hot cup of coffee.  Enjoy!

Pro Tips

• Be sure to use bread flour and not all-purpose flour when making yeast breads.  The additional gluten in bread flour gives the dough strength to rise higher and makes it more chewy.  All-purpose flour will not give you the same results.
• Help the dough rise more quickly by placing it in a steamy oven.  This is a handy tip, especially during the cold winter months.  Place the bowl of dough on the middle rack of a cold oven, and put a pan of boiling water on the rack below the dough.  Keep the oven door shut to trap the warm steam in the oven.
• Don't stretch the strands of dough when you're braiding the loaf.  This will make the loaf skinnier at one end than the other.
• Don't have pearl sugar?  Make your own.  Put ½ cup of granulated sugar in a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon of water, and stir until the sugar forms clumps.  Add water ¼ teaspoon at a time if not all the sugar clumped.  Set the pan over medium-low heat and stir frequently until the sugar clumps have dried out and you can pick them up easily with a spoon.  They will continue to harden as they cool.
• Place an extra cookie sheet under the loaf while it's baking.  The air trapped between the two cookie sheets insulates the bottom, keeping it from browning too quickly.
• Use a thermometer to check when your bread is done baking.  The loaf should be a rich golden brown and have an internal temperature of 190 F.

Recommended Tools

• 2-Cup Glass Measuring Cup: this is my favorite size for measuring and pouring liquids.
• Wilton 11x17-Inch Cookie Sheets: these light-colored trays bake bread very evenly.
• Digital Thermometer: no more guessing if the pulla is cooked with this thermometer!
• Wire Cooling Racks: keep your bread crisp and fresh as it cools with these racks.
• Ground Cardamom: this fragrant spice is the key ingredient to a traditional pulla.

Satisfy your sweet tooth with these other sweet breads.

• Challah Bread
• Vánočka
• Kanellängd
• Cardamom Buns
• Swedish Tea Ring

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Recipe

This recipe was originally published on December 8, 2017.