Finnish-ing the Year

After arriving home at 5pm New Year's Eve, I didn't feel like heading out into the cold. Curling up on the couch with my roommate, cats, and her friends to ring in 2014 with Duck Soup and Junior's cheesecake seemed just right. And since I wasn't braving the crowds, I decided that I had enough time to mix, knead and braid a Finnish Pulla.

Finnish Pulla is a delightful yeasted bread for winter. It is packed with cardamom, which tastes great on its own or paired with soup. The dough is similar to challah and is traditionally braided in a ring, so half the fun of the bread is presentation. Thus, perfect for showing off for company!

Finnish Pulla (Cardamom bread) a la Baking with Julia

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 Tbsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (about 110 F)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp crushed cardamom seeds (about 7 pods worth)

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten, at room temperature

4.5 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg beaten with 1 Tbsp milk, for glaze

Sliced or slivered almonds, for topping

Put the milk in a small saucepan and scald it (heat it until a ring of small bubbles is visible around the sides of the pan). Remove the pan from the heat and cool the milk to a temperature of

between 105 and 115 F.

In a large bowl, whisk the yeast into the warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes, or until the yeast has

dissolved and is creamy. Whisk in the milk, sugar, cardamom, salt, and eggs. Switch to a wooden spoon, add 2 cups of the flour, and beat the mixture until smooth. Beat in the butter and then add as much additional flour, half cup at a time, as you can until the dough is stiff but not dry. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until it is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes.

First Rise: Shape the dough into a ball. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, turn it around in the bowl to

grease the top, and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature until

it doubles in bulk, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Lightly oil a cool work surface for shaping the dough. Turn the dough out onto the oiled surface and knead it lightly and briefly, just to deflate it and release the air. Divide the dough into thirds and roll each third into a rope about 36 inches long. Braid the three strands, braiding as far down to the bottom of the strands as you can. Lift the long braid onto the parchment-lined pan, shaping it into a circle as you place it on the pan. Snip about 1 inch of dough off each end of the braid and fuse the ends together, pressing and pinching them together

.

Second Rise: Cover the wreath with a kitchen towel and allow it to rise at room temperature until it

is puff y but not doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to

375 F.

Brush the egg glaze over the bread. Sprinkle the wreath with sliced almonds or pearl sugar for an extra treat. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden, taking care not to overbake the wreath. Transfer the loaf to a rack to cool to room temperature before cutting.

8th week is a time for treats

With my comps talk being complete, I found myself with some free time during 8th week. Since 8th is often crunch time, I figured that friends would appreciate a treat. I decided to try a new recipe for shortbread, as it should be able to handle a day or two in a mailbox.

After returning from stuffing mailboxes, I tried the shortbread and immediately considered returning to the Post Office to retrieve the bars that I had just delivered. Why had I shared these? I wanted them all! Although shortbread isn't usually my favorite baked good, this recipe is now on my go-to list.

Hungarian Shortbread with Raspberry Jam

from Baking with Julia

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 lb. unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 large egg yolks

2 cups granulated sugar

~3/4 cup raspberry jam

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

Using a mixer, beat the butter on high speed until it is pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and sugar and beat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is light. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the ingredients are incorporated.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and cut in half. Shape each half into a ball and wrap each in plastic. Freeze the dough for about 30 minutes, until firm. (You can freeze the dough, tightly wrapped, for up to a month at this point. Thaw overnight, still wrapped, in the refrigerator.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350F. Remove one ball of dough from the freezer and using the side of a box grater with the largest holes, grate the dough into a 9-by-12 inch baking pan. Pat the dough gently just to get it into the corners (you don't want to press it down) and spread with the rhubarb jam. Grate the remaining dough over the jam and press it lightly to distribute it evenly. Bake the shortbread for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

As soon as you remove the pan from the oven, dust the top of the shortbread heavily with confectioner's sugar. Cool to room temperature on a rack. Cut into bars when it is cool.

Spring Birthday Cake

Yesterday, we celebrated my freshman year roommate's birthday, and of course, I couldn't resist taking over the dessert planning.

Although I'm not much of a cake person, I decided that for this birthday, I would go with the traditional birthday cake of two layers, and since I have yet to use my Baking with Julia much (horrible, I know!), I decided to try Julia's perfect genoise, a basic French cake. French cakes are drier than American but still oh so delicious.

Now, that Spring has arrived in Minnesota, I've been craving fruit, so I made lemon curd to hold the two layers together, though I used buttercream frosting for the rest of the cake. Still, I wanted more lemon, so I drizzled more lemon curd on top of the cake. Then, to decorate and take full advantage of Spring, I decorated with fresh violets. They may not add much flavor, but they are beautiful!



Genoise from Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
This only makes enough for one round, so I doubled the recipe for my cake.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs (room temp)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pour the melted butter into a small bowl; reserve.

In another bowl, mix the flour, 1 Tb of the sugar, and the salt.

Then, in a large bowl, beat the eggs and the remaining sugar. Then, with a hand-mixer, whip the mixture on medium speed until it is airy, pale, and tripled in volume like softly whipped cream. The took me about 7 minutes. The eggs are properly whipped when you lift the mixer and the mixture falls bak into the bowl in a ribbon that rests on the surface for about 10 seconds. Whip the vanilla extract into the mixture near the end.

Fold in about one third of the flour mixture. Be sure to stop as soon as the flour is incorporated. Fold in the rest in two more additions.

Then, spoon about 1 cup of the batter into the bowl with the melted butter and fold the butter in with a rubber spatula. Fold this mixture into the batter in the large bowl. (This is the point at which the batter is at its most fragile, so fold gingerly).

Pour into a prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Let it cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the pan.