My mother Marja-Terrtu (Meri for those of you who can’t roll your ‘r’ s) was born in Finland and this recipe is a tweaked version of her Mother’s (my Mummu’s*) recipe.  It’s a little time consuming but you get 4 braids out of it so it’s worth the effort. This bread freezes well and makes amazing toast. The Swedes and the Finns are always claiming this recipe for their own but since this is MY blog I say it’s Finnish.

*Note: Mummu is Finnish for Grandmother and not to be confused with a Hawaiian house dress.

You will need:

40 cardamon pods peeled. Grind the contents of the pods (not the pods!) in a clean coffee grinder or use a motar and pestle if you need a work out. My Mummu used a clean tea “tow-vel” and a hammer…she was low tech my Mummu, but it worked and I have very fond memories of stuffing my face with this rich and flavourful bread. This holiday season my Auntie Leila sent us a loaf of her pulla and a jar of her wild blueberry jam…yum.

Ingredients
5 eggs (1 for basting)
1/3 lb butter
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. milk
3 c. all purpose flour plus 4 3/4 c
1 tsp salt

Yeast Mixture:
4 packages yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 c. warm water

1. Dissolve sugar in water.
2. Sprinkle yeast over top, mix and let rise about 5 minutes
3. While the yeast proofs, mix butter, oil, sugar and milk in a pot and warm up – don’t scald.
4. Add 3 c. of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir out the lumps.
5. Add the warm milk mixture and again stir out the lumps.
6. Beat in the 4 eggs one at a time.
7. Add remaining flour until it is combined (you may need to use your hands at the end).
8. Sprinkle with flour and cover with a sheet of parchment paper and a clean, dry tea towel.
9. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled.
10. After dough has doubled, turn it onto a floured surface (I have a marble pastry board which works very well).
11. Kneading as you go, add just enough flour to make a soft dough. It shouldn’t be sticky. Cover with parchment and your towel and let it rise until doubled again.
12. Preheat oven to 350.
13. Cut the dough into 4 portions (each of these will make one loaf).
14. Cut each portion into 4 and make a 4 stranded braid. If you don’t know how to do that then here is a very handy YouTube video that shows you how (thanks to Margaret!): http://youtu.be/R8K6SHj43lY. I just roll out 4 strands and pinch them together at the top (it works just as well).
15. Place loaves (2 each) on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
16. Whisk remaining egg and use it to baste the loaves.
17. Sprinkle with a cinnamon sugar mixture (the same stuff you use to make cinnamon toast…I use a 1:3 mixture of cinnamon to sugar).
18. Put in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes checking the bottom of the loaves after 25 minutes. When the bottoms are brown they are ready to come out. If the top starts to get a little too brown then cover with a sheet of tinfoil.
19. Remove from oven and let cool.
20. Eat warm or cool completely and put in freezer bags for the freezer.