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?
I'm about to make Nigella's clementine cake for a group meeting. Are the guys going to run me out on a rail? Oh well, it's for my celiac friend so i'll take the heat!
Posted by: Christine Berardi | January 10, 2008 at 03:13 PM
Well, my house fits into your generalization. I love citrus, but my husband only likes the bland chemically citrus lemon bundt cake from the grocery store.
Posted by: Courtney | January 10, 2008 at 03:20 PM
My husband loves lemon. When we were in Italy for our honeymoon, he always got lemon sorbet instead of all of the delicious other gelato flavors. I love cardamom as well--it does kind of smell like soap, but perhaps if all soap tasted like cardamom does the threat of getting your mouth washed out with soap when you're a kid when you say something awful wouldn't be such a threat.
Posted by: Elizabeth | January 10, 2008 at 03:21 PM
I loooooove citrus, probably more than my husband and my toddler is berserk for lemons and oranges, but I absolutely DETEST orange and chocolate together. I'm a chocolate purist and I was so disappointed that when our favorite restaurant served what they had called "crepes au chocolat" it had orange in it. ugh.
Posted by: kate | January 10, 2008 at 03:32 PM
Bread (including Swedish Christmas Braid) will rise in the fridge overnight, it just rises slowly. Just make sure that you have some extra time the first year just in case it's not done rising or fell and needs to be re-kneaded and given a third rising. If you have a cold spot by a window, that works well too.
Julie - designated by my mom as the official Yulekage baker of the family
Posted by: Julie | January 10, 2008 at 03:33 PM
My hubby LOVES lemon in everything, but he's Greek you know, so there ya go...Lemon Chicken, Lemon Meringue Pie, lemon juice on veggies and in salad dressing...that's just a start...if we're outta lemons, it's like we have nothing to eat, in his mind. As for me, the Chocoholic, the only acceptable additions to this divine food are raspberries, espresso powder and liqueurs such as Amaretto and Kahlua.
Posted by: Kim P | January 10, 2008 at 04:07 PM
Your blog is going to make me FAT!
;)
Jen R
Posted by: Jen Rizzo | January 10, 2008 at 04:59 PM
That explains it! I made the Barefoot Contessa Lemon Fusilli that you recommended a looooong time ago & I LOVED it - Scott, not so much. He thought the lemon needed to be toned down - this did not compute in my brain! Grammie knows what's up.
Posted by: Kelly | January 10, 2008 at 05:01 PM
i use a molly katzen recipe for the orange rind choco chip cookie. my husband and i both love them more than anything, but it's the little girl of the household who could do without the orange rind.
Posted by: zoe | January 10, 2008 at 05:14 PM
I'm pretty mental for cardamon myself. I love it in oatmeal with soymilk and brown sugar.
Posted by: melissa@yummygoods | January 10, 2008 at 05:21 PM
I love orange rind in cookies!! in fact, my favorite cookie recipe is for chocolate chip raisen oatmeal cookies that has an orange worth of orange rind and a touch of cloves... mmmmm
Posted by: Natalie B | January 10, 2008 at 06:31 PM
Mmm, I love citrus desserts. My boyfriend isn't quite as batty about them as I -- he prefers candy like Skittles to baked goods -- but he'll go for a good lemon pound cake as quickly as I will.
Posted by: Christina | January 10, 2008 at 06:44 PM
One of my favorite combos is chocolate and orange! Like....chocolate shortbread cooked with orange zest in the dough or Saturday morning chocolate chip pancakes with a little bit of Orange Flower Water added to the batter. Hmm, I could go on and on.
Posted by: K. Fajardo | January 10, 2008 at 06:52 PM
I love that you call your mom grammie (that's what i called my dad's mom)
and that you love her so much!
I like orange ring too!
Posted by: cindy | January 10, 2008 at 07:03 PM
Your grammie was right on the money. I use citrus in many, many recipes including meat, fish, casseroles. I've never met anything that couldn't use a little touch of zesty lemon. I buy them by the bagfuls.
Posted by: the farmers wife | January 10, 2008 at 07:52 PM
Mmmm, orange rind in chocolate chip cookies--I'll have to try that. My favorite chocolate-orange combination is chocolate ice cream (the richest/darkest possible) and orange sherbet. It reminds me of a chocolate orange ice cream that I used to get as a child from an ice cream parlor in Washington DC that's not there anymore.
A friend of mine used to hate all things citrus, even the smell. Then she went to grad school in England and ate oranges all the time because they were the easiest fresh fruit to get, and she loves citrus now.
Posted by: mikawendy | January 10, 2008 at 08:11 PM
I agree with Grammie. The males in this house HATE lemon and citrus things. You know, I didn't get the recipe WRONG it's SUPPOSED to taste like that *rolls eyes*. I don't think guys get subtlety of flavour....
Posted by: QALBALLAH | January 10, 2008 at 09:47 PM
Yum..yum..yum!! Looks delicious...and we definitely wouldn't complain if someone set that plate of french toast in front of us!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
blessings,
kari & kijsa
Posted by: kari & kijsa | January 10, 2008 at 10:34 PM
I love cardamom, so I'm going to try this recipe soon, thanks for sharing it :)
Posted by: Tania Ho | January 11, 2008 at 01:29 AM
That looks so deicious! Have you tried to bake it in advance, put it in the freezer, and on Christmas morning put it in the oven on low temprature to defrost? I always do that, and it taste like freshly baked :-)
Posted by: M&Co | January 11, 2008 at 05:18 AM
this is funny- my boyfriend hated my lemon bars and i always thought that it was because my experimental vegan version came out a little wonky (i'll admit that myself), but now i'm thinking that maybe it's because he's a guy and therefore hates citrus (haha)
Posted by: julia | January 11, 2008 at 06:01 AM
YUM! I also love making a favorite version of this bread, called "pulla" in my Finnish background. In fact, I make it almost every time I'm invited to a dinner at a friend's house, as it's a unique flavor and an easy crowd pleaser.
I also love it for french toast AND bread pudding. DEEE-lish!
Posted by: Celeste | January 11, 2008 at 06:33 AM
Oh, Swedish Christmas Braid! I love that! I am going to snag that recipe. Our family tradition was to have Gram make Prune Roll...mmmmm, so good, and good memories! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: whatchabuildin, heather | January 11, 2008 at 06:51 AM
My dad is pretty adventurous when it comes to food, and he loves sweets, so he's my main guinea pig when it comes to flavor combos. Citrus, spices...what have you, if its mingling with sugar, he loves it.
My husband is a chocolate cake man but is showing some culinary diversity. He does like citrus and I was shocked to discover he loves orange and white chocolate cookies (after telling me for years that he hates white chocolate). There are certain foods you do not mess around with, however. You do not add anything flavorful to his mayo (like chipotle or lime for instance) and you never, ever put corn in anything, including corn chowder. Corn must only be eaten alone...and not touching anything else.
I love
Posted by: Heather | January 11, 2008 at 07:55 AM
citrus, but not with chocolate. White chocolate with fruit = good. Brown chocolate with fruit = Ick.
Posted by: Heather | January 11, 2008 at 07:59 AM
My husband gets all sorts of irate with me when I put lemon juice and rind in the frosting for cinnamon rolls. I LOVE lemon frosting. So so good.
Posted by: amy | January 11, 2008 at 08:36 AM
(i hate orange rind and i would have been right there with pete with that orange rind in the waffles. to the streets!)
Posted by: sarah n. | January 11, 2008 at 08:57 AM
That is so interesting that braid bread is Swedish. My mom (who is Norwegian) always made it but I thought it was just an "our family" thing. Ours has raisins in it and a light frosting. If you are feeling really decadent, you can butter it too (we Norwegians like to butter just about everything!!).
Posted by: Lisa | January 11, 2008 at 08:59 AM
I've started to ALWAYS put the zest of an orange in my french toast egg mix. My daughter went crazy the first time I did it and now it's a must-include ingredient.
Posted by: Wendi | January 11, 2008 at 09:16 AM
Well I dont agree with that, or maybe it only happens in the US (I live in Mexico) my dad used to put citrus in cakes and food in general and I absolutly HATE IT!!! YUCK!!!
Posted by: Daniela | January 11, 2008 at 10:23 AM
That is so funny, because on Christmas eve, I decided last minute to make the cookie icing ith lemon juice instead of water, and the boys/men freaked. My husband wouldn't eat it, my son waited for some "regular" icing, and my daughter, mother in law, and I ate it all up!
Posted by: Visty | January 11, 2008 at 10:51 AM
My stepmom's family is from Finland. She makes a bread very similar. It think it's spelt "Bulla". My kids made it with her this past Christmas. They loved it.It was fun to watch them learn how baked goods don't always pop out of a box. They learned alot of patience and kneading. :)
Posted by: Sara | January 11, 2008 at 11:50 AM
LOVE the orange rind in cc cookies idea. My husband is all about citrus and even makes Ohio Lemon Pie - the whole lemon thinly sliced and macerated (soaked with sugar for a while - hours?) It's tart and sweet and lovely.
Years ago my mom introduced us to our Swedish ancestry by combining Santa Lucia Day (Dec. 13) with Christmas morning. Each eve we make saffron buns and each Christmas morning, the oldest child (we switched around) led a procession of us, singing, into my parents room to wake them with hot coffee and buns before checking out Santa's delivery. I do this with my kids and they love it, too.
Looking forward to trying the Christmas braid for a mid-January celebration (any reason to eat sweet bread is good enough for me!)
Posted by: Amy B | January 11, 2008 at 12:19 PM
The orange rind in choclate chip cookies sounds fabulous! Do you just use the zest or do you use the actual peel? With or without the orange stuff. For what it's worth my boyfreind loves citrus and choclate together.
Posted by: Heidi | January 11, 2008 at 01:02 PM
The orange rind in choclate chip cookies sounds fabulous! Do you just use the zest or do you use the actual peel? With or without the orange stuff. For what it's worth my boyfreind loves citrus and choclate together.
Posted by: Heidi | January 11, 2008 at 01:03 PM
as soon as I saw that bread I clicked to the recipe and made it immediately. It was a long dark rainy day..... I roasted tandoori chicken in the oven and then baked the bread, the kids were going crazy!!!! It turned out great and was gobbled down immediately. Nobody even commented on the cardamom. Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration!
Posted by: jan in nagasaki | January 11, 2008 at 01:53 PM
Hmmm, well I think my husband might be the exception to that sweeping citrus generalization...but that's not why I'm posting.
I didn't read all the comments so I don't know if this has been brought up or not already, but you could make the bread on Christmas morning by doing the first rise at night, then braiding the dough and putting it in the fridge. The dough will rise in the fridge. It happens much much slower than if it were not in the fridge, but overnight (about 8 hrs) is usually sufficient time to get a good rise from yeast breads. I can't say for sure that this would work with your recipe, but I have done this with cinnamon rolls and other yeast breads and it worked out fine. Having said all of that, if your plans include making french toast then you might want to make it the day before anyhow.
Looks delicious by the way.
Posted by: Donna J. | January 11, 2008 at 02:17 PM
Hi. I always read your blog (as feed) and never comment. But since you asked...Grammie's right in THIS house. Your orange rind recipes sound delish to me, but my husband turns up his nose anything 'tangy'(read: citrus) or anything with the word 'rind' in the recipe.
Posted by: LynnAnne | January 11, 2008 at 02:31 PM
this sounds amazing!
Posted by: spaceoddities | January 11, 2008 at 05:06 PM
Ok, you're my bff today. I made the bread and I'm so so so happy. I used to live 1 block from a Swedish bakery in Seattle and day-old cardamom bread was our Saturday morning staple for french toast. I've missed it terribly since moving away. Now I can do it myself! Yeah, I could have eventually figured it out but you did it for me. Yay! Thank you!
Posted by: Sarah Jackson | January 11, 2008 at 05:26 PM
Yeah for Swedish Braid! I often sneak Cardamom into things when no one is looking---I think it adds an "exotic" taste to normally cinnamon flavored baked items.
Also, there is also a way to make a baked braid that you don't have to braid anything but just fold portions of it over each other. Nonetheless, it's all in the tasting that matters!;-)
Posted by: Amber | January 11, 2008 at 05:30 PM
I am in total agreement with you on the citrus thing! I'll add it to almost anything. I squeeze fresh lemon juice on my serving of homemade macaroni and cheese - it's amazing!
Posted by: Karin | January 11, 2008 at 09:25 PM
That is so funny!
I can't really say regarding my husband and citrus, but I guess I wouldn't be surprised either way. He's a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in a vest :) My younger brother said to me once, "Having 4 older sisters, I'm a great date, because I love to hang out, talk about People magazine and eat fudge." I'll bet he would like orange zest in chocolate chip cookies! Isn't that the cutest thing?
Posted by: Emily | January 11, 2008 at 09:31 PM
I lurk her but never post, however I had to de-lurk to tell you how much I am laughing at this post. Yes, I have a husband and a son who are deeply suspicious of any rougue flavours, orange and lemon zest always cause raised eyebrows and cardamon has to be sneaked in and its presence denied. I think Grammie has it absolutely right.
Posted by: Rebecca | January 12, 2008 at 02:24 AM
"Did I say that? I didn't say that. I must have been smoking crack."
That is my stock answer for any sort of stupidity (or appearance thereof) on my part.
My husband has the same aversion to citrus zest/rind/peel in just about anything except officially citrus-y food like key lime pie or lemon meringue pie. He would probably also be offended at not being informed of the presence of orange rind in his waffles by the menu.
This braid looks amazing! Much better than *my* family's Christmas tradition of cinnamon rolls from a can. I'm perfectly capable of making "the best cinnamon rolls in the world" (my husband) but I often prefer the canned ones on December 25th. It makes me feel 12 again. I am not ashamed.
Posted by: Lindsey in AL | January 12, 2008 at 06:23 AM
I love cardamom, though not too many fans in my family. I make my Swedish grandmothers Sweet Biscuits for Christmas. Yum.
I like my chocolate pretty unadulterated, though there are exceptions. I think the orange rind might be one.
Posted by: Ivy Arts | January 12, 2008 at 09:53 AM
My husband? It's chocolate chip cookies or nothing. Me? Basically anything else...try a bit of fresh orange rind in banana bread!
Michele
Posted by: Michele | January 12, 2008 at 10:57 AM
I love orange rind in baking - especially in Easter Buns. Sadly though most bakery Easter Buns don't inlcude orange peal any more due to complaints! What is happening to people in this world...
Posted by: Rach | January 12, 2008 at 01:05 PM
orange and cardamon! gear it up, baby!
Posted by: cara | January 12, 2008 at 01:22 PM
This year is the year of bread for me in my house. Each weekend, a new loaf. We're just finishing up the Pumpkin. I am not sure what I'll bake tomorrow. :)
Posted by: Molly | January 12, 2008 at 03:48 PM