swedish christmas braid

Grammie always made a Swedish Christmas Braid for Christmas morning. I have been making them for our family for about 5 years now, more or less, and they are a favorite holiday tradition of mine. I usually make it on Christmas eve and then leave it out overnight for french toast in the morning, or just with butter and jam. I love the idea of baking it fresh in the morning, but there is no way I can get up that early. I guess I could do the first rise and then braid it and then put it in the fridge overnight. Then I could take it out and do the second rise Christmas morning. That would work. But this requires a bit more brain power than I seem to have during this time of year.

Here it is as french toast yesterday. I froze it. And I have to eat it with jam.

Cardamom, which is the spice in this braid, is a wonderful flavor to me. I like to use it in apple pies, but don't very often because it always disappoints someone. "Why does it taste soapy?" Hmmm. That's the nice version. "Why did you ruin a perfectly good apple pie?" is probably what is really meant. This also happens when I add orange rind to chocolate chip cookies. Which is pure heaven in my book. It's getting to the point now that I splint a batch in half, one with the orange rind, one without because I love the orange rind so much. I like to avoid making gender generalizations, but it's interesting to me that men seem the most offended by orange rind in my cookies. Or baked goods in general. The most upset I ever saw Pete in a restaurant was when his waffles came with orange rind in the batter, which wasn't described in the menu. I think not knowing it was in there is what did it, but still, he was pretty aggro. Grammie says women like citrus flavors way more than men. Grammie is the master of sweeping generalizations, a quality I absolute love about her, and I make my share as well. What's best is that we never remember saying these things, so when people quote us back to ourselves later we always say "Did I say that? I didn't say that. I must have been smoking crack." But, back to citrus. . .  is this true? I love citrus in baked goods and love lemon tarts and all that but the men I know really don't get all excited about a lemon tart. Or orange pound cake. But good ol' chocolate cake? Yup, that goes over big.

The Swedish Christmas Braid recipe I use I posted here on flickr last year for the December Tie One On submission. Oh, don't forget the polka-dot aprons for Tie One On are due February 1st! Perfect theme for Valentine's Day, huh?

Comments

[Tana]

Orange rind in chocolate chip cookies...now THERE's an idea. Gonna have to try it...though I think my husband's reaction will corroborate your theory about men not liking that type of stuff. Not to fret - this way, they can be all for me, right?

[Bertha]

It's true in our household! My husband doesn't like citrus in anything that isn't "supposed" to have citrus in it. Like, he will drink orange juice, or lemonade or sherbet or whatever, but if I make lemon chicken or orange rice, or God forbid, put it in something with chocolate (is there ANYTHING better than chocolate + orange??) he will NOT eat it.

[Lynn]

Had to go snag the Christmas Braid recipe! Thank you. My family is of Swedish Heritage -
Swedish Rye Bread, Peparkarka, and Swedish Potato Sausage all equal Christmas to me and my family - maybe I can add a new tradition next year! Thanks!

[m]

My husband loves citrus in baking and his favourite cake is a lemon chiffon cake I make. Neither of us are big chocolate cake folks, though (I know, the horror!). But he's in theatre, so maybe the citrus love is just a side-effect of his sensitive side.

The french toast looks devine!

[michelle]

Oh, yeah. Definitely spot on about men. Mine won't tolerate any alteration of the vaulted Toll House! No nuts, no oatmeal, no combination of white & semi-sweet, no raisins (that's actually really yummy!), and certainly no orange rind!

[Christine]

Gosh, I hate to make those generalizations, but I've found that my husband doesn't like citrus in anything but his orange juice as well! He thinks Key Lime Pie is terrible! I LOVE it!

[Becca]

Oh, too funny! I LOVE to put citrus in almost everything, sweet or savory! I've never in chocolate chip cookies though, but I'm going to go right home and try it! But I've come to figure out that my husband dosen't like it either, I assumed everyone loves that extra something as much as I do. My husband sees me in the kitchen with my zester out and says "Please, does everything have to have ZEST in it?!"

PS- Just recently discovered this "crafty mama" blog circuit- I'm a fellow crafty mama and have found blog heaven!!!

[Denise Mares]

I love orange chicken but I draw the line at messing up perfectly good chocolate by adding citrus... a little raspberry liquor in a chocolate fondue is to die for, however!

[Lisa Clarke]

I made some chicken that required orange juice last night, and my husband didn't like it. I should *know* this, though, because every time I try to make a chicken dish with some kind of fruit in it he says, "I don't like fruity chicken." After 12 years, I am *still* making fruity chicken because somewhere in my mind I think he mustn't really mean it. ;-) He didn't like the Cranberry Bread I made at Thanksgiving, either. "Too orangey," he said. You may be on to something with that gender thing, because I loved the bread. And last night's chicken, for that matter :-)

[sherrieg]

Too funny - my husband is the same way about citrus! I adore it, and he thinks it ruins anything that it touches. Unless it's lemon meringue pie, ugh! (And from a box, which isn't real lemon anyway). Could this sweeping generalization be true?

[mj]

Does your granny also say she must've been smoking crack? If so, I love your grammie (maybe anyway, she sounds like a great lady). My boyfriend and I have almost opposite tastes in food, so I'm feeling like the split the batch technique will be a favorite! And he detected the orange rind in the cranberry relish at Thanksgiving, which is one of my favorites, and protested a little there.

[Jessica]

Oh my gosh I make sweeping generalizations all the time too.... and then say the same thing.....'Did I really say that?'.

Too funny. Also love the smoking crack comment....I use that one all the time.

That french toast looks delish.

[Julie]

So funny -- I love cardamom and so does my husband who is Swedish, but some of the other members of the family like to say the cardamom dinner rolls traditionally served at Christmas taste like soap!

As for citrus, it's true in my family. Me and Maddie love it, but Pete really doesn't care for it. So sad -- I almost never make lemon bars or my favorite -- lemon blueberry bread -- because of it.

[hannah]

oh amy. you have to make these. they are so good and so easy. i half the chocolate chips and use all the juice from the oragne. and now i will be putting orange zest in cookies.

[Nicole]

Yum. I love all things Scandinavian. We don't do a whole lot of "Swedish" baking in my family, but our traditional Christmas foods are Swedish meatballs, lefse, and krumkake. I am drooling right now.

[amyehodge]

I have to admit that I find citrus okay in baked goods, but would much rather have it without. On the other hand, my husband is more likely to pass entirely on the baked goods if there is citrus in them. So, I guess that generalization still stands here, since I like it better than my husband, although I wouldn't say I really like it. If I were cooking I would definitely not add it in! But your braid looks very yummy either way, particularly as french toast. Yum!!

[Ericka B Traven]

My husband does not like any dessert with fruit. He only just recently started drinking herbal teas with a fruit flavor. I love white chocolate and raspberry anything though.

[Millie]

Well, we're the opposite in our house. I will only eat the unadulterated Tollhouse cookies. My husband likes raisins and other fruity stuff in just about anything, but not me. Ick! We have never split the cookie dough because I make it (the way I like it), but he did make curry the other night and put raisins in his serving only. To each his own!

[Kaitie Tee]

My older brother would eat an entire batch of lemon bars if you let him. I guess that makes him a freak (which I had suspected for some time now). Gotta love older brothers.

[Bad Hippie]

My grandma made Hoska...which is a sweet, braided breakfast bread with nuts and golden raisins. My aunt and I get together sometime before the holidays and make up a huge batch...we're the only two left who know how to follow the esoteric scribblings that my grandma called a "recipe."

[Jodie]

I made sugar cookies with lemon zest in them and they were great! I think everybody liked them. At least no one said anything....

I'm going to have to try the orange peel thing! That sounds great. Plus the bread looks fantastic. French toast mmm.....

[Alice]

Oh YUM! I'm soooooo hungry. I love citrus in my cooking. I think it adds just that hint of something special inside whatever it is that you've cooked or baked.

[Karen]

That looks delicious! The whole breadmaking process is so satisfying; I would really love to learn a few great recipes. I might have to grab this one and give it a try :)

[Maggie Sumner]

The Christmas Braid photo is making my mouth water!

I understand the whole citrus controversy. I love citrus flavors. But for some reason, I really detest the orange/chocolate flavor combination. I love orange and I love chocolate. But together, they are like krytonite to me : )

[jen davis]

Mmmmmm...this looks to be positively divine!

[Deanna]

Not exactly citrus, but made me think of pineapple pancakes we make. Can of crushed pineapple in the batter makes the most delish pancakes if you like fruit in your food. Even my dh likes them...too bad the kids don't. :)

[kimchi]

oh yum yum YUM!!!
that all looks and sounds so delicious! and i've been craving that cardamom bread for so long...
thanks for the recipe!
ek.

[Mariko]

Peter claims to hate lemon treats, but I pretend I don't believe him. I had your loaf the other day, and it was super delicious, not dry at all!

[Meg]

My Papa has an orange cake for his birthday every year for as long as I can remember. Not many people love it like he does.

[jstar]

my husband is of the 'ruined by cardamom' mindset and i can't get enough of it. so good!

[Misti]

My husband is a citrus FA-REAK! The more orange rind the better. He'll take lemon bars over chocolate cake any day.

I still love him. :)

[rebecca]

hmmmm. not to sure. i guess because i'm the cook of the house, i cook more to my taste and have never had any complaints about it ;-P
i like citrus flavors in my cooking but not in baking. i've never heard of 'cardamom' before. i wonder if this is a regional thing?

[Misti]

My husband is a citrus FA-REAK! The more orange rind the better. He'll take lemon bars over chocolate cake any day.

I still love him. :)

[Amy]

Exact opposite in our house. I can't stand orange and chocolate - my husband LOVES citrus anything. But I do tend to wear the pants, soooo ... (-:

[Carolyn]

It's true about men and citris. Meanwhile when I was pregnant all I wanted was citris or sour--from lemonheads to lemons. Your orange rind/chocolate chip cookie idea sounds really tasty. What a beautiful braid of bread too!

[Kimberly Ann]

It's funny, now that you mention it, I have noticed my husband has a particular problem with unexpected citrus. The orange pieces in a Spanish-style pasta sauce the other night sent him over the moon. hmmm.

[Kim]

chocolate + orange = HEAVEN!

[Vicky]

Love citrus flavor in just about anything! For 'fake' flavor [insert crack pipe, cuz i didn't say this] try True Lemon...or Lime...haven't tried the Orange yet. Anywhoo...best 'fake' citrus I have come up against yet! Seriously, it is good. I usually find it in the 'fake' drink section at the store. [kool aid is not a real drink, it's for dyeing wool]

[Jodie]

I'm in , big citrus lover here, in cakes and puddings, lemon or orange and Himself??? Not interested at all!

[Barbara]

Love citrus in stuff... not partial to any particular flavor either. My favorite way to make chicken is with lime. Mmmmmm... The guys in my family like it too though, so I don't know that I could corroborate your generalization.

[Lisa]

Looks yum-O (as we say here)! The next blog I headed over to after my mouth watering after your cardamon flavored bread was Baking and Books. Today, her post was about...cardamon! There's a recipe over that-a-way if you're so inclined: http://www.bakingandbooks.com/2008/01/10/pulla-apple-charlottes/

[Amy]

I have a Swedish grandmother who taught my mother how to make this bread. We grew up eating it all the time, and I just LOVE it. Not sure if I'm spelling this right at all, but we called it Bulla. I've also seen it spelled with a "P"

[Marissa]

One of my favorite new recipes is the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie (w/ orange rind) one from smitten kitchen's archive. With spices. Husband & all males who have tried it more than tolerate it's complex flavors in an old fashioned cookie. Best.

[equisetaceae]

I am sooooo all over team citrus.

I fact, I think I am the team captain of team citrus.

In my house though, I am the only member of said team. My male counterpart will only eat my citrus-flavoured baking if everything else is gone.

score one for broad gender based generalizations.

[alexis]

That's interesting, because my husband has to have one of those chocolate oranges in his stocking every year. which I could take or leave. but orange zest in the cookies, I could do that. I think it's the natural vs artificial orange flavor. By the way,that is one fine lookin' plate of french toast.

[maryse]

my husband wouldn't eat the mac n cheese i made once because instead of using elbows i used small penne. he said it tasted different.

i said, "more for me."

[Grammie]

I said that? Well, it MUST have been the crack talkin'

[Courtney]

After putting (dried) orange rind in cinnamon bread I decided that's the secret ingredient in Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, that's what gives them that little wang.

[Suzie]

I think men generally don't like anything unexpected or a bit different in -or even just nearby- their food! I remember offering home made chutney at a BBQ which all the girls adored but all the men refused to even try! There are always exceptions to the rule, all the vegetarian men that I know love trying new crazy foods, including chutney :) They are surprisingly much less fussy than carnivores!

Chocolate and orange is a classic combination! And mango chicken if you eat meat! If peeps don't like it they can make their own dinner!

[Sharon]

Everything you have described baking sounds wonderful, but I have to concur with your husband (and perhaps the male gender) in finding citrus in my food offensive. I hate to turn my nose up at something I've not tried (especially something YOU made), but cooked orange--whether in baked goods or in meat REALLY nauseates me. I don't know if it's a conditioned response to my mother cooking pork chops basted with OJ--HURGH or if I was just born with the aversion. She claimed it was to keep the pork moist--I contend she was cooking it to a crisp (just a little dry!!!). I insisted that she not dare touch any of my chops with OJ (and cook it a bit less :) ).
Well, there's my 2 cents, and sorry for it. If it's any consolation, I've been telling my husband about your baking--namely the marshmallows dipped in chocolate and the salted chocolates!