Finnish Nissua Bread

About two years ago, I developed a fierce dedication to baking. At the time, I prided myself on being the single girl always on the go, traveling, dinners out with friends, etc. Then time stopped - my mom became gravely ill and came to live with her one and only child for eight weeks. I was trapped - in my own home - for EIGHT weeks. There are only so many books your can read, so many movies you can watch and so many bathrooms you can clean before you go stir crazy. So, I got up early one morning and headed to my local Bed, Bath & Beyond for a Kitchen Aid mixer and was home to take care of mom and begin baking by 9:30 a.m. I took my shiny, new mixer out of the box and stared at it. Where to begin? I had dabbled in baking before but typically choose the 'Betty Crocker' pre-mix route in the name of time. So I perused my kitchen for ingredient inspiration and found a container of ground cardamom I had picked up from Urban Herbs at Cleveland's Westside Market. I had purchased this spice because I knew it was a key ingredient in a bread we would buy in my hometown (Ashtabula, Ohio). Ashtabula is in northeast Ohio and is home to a fairly large Finnish population with a righteous heritage. Once a month a Lutheran church in my childhood backyard would hold a nissua bread sale. Nissua is a fairly tender Finnish sweet bread made with cardamom seeds. It's devine! I figured what better way to break in the new mixer than to attempt to recreate a childhood favorite. I googled for recipes, finding and adapting the one listed below from allrecipes.com. Maybe I should say attempts (plural) because it took several tries to get the bread just right. Here's is the major lessons I learned with my first attempts at bread making:

1. Hot water is not an equal exchange for warm water when it comes to yeast. You can ruin the yeast if the water is too hot! Consider your self warned.

2. Kneading the dough should not be exhausting. You can damage the product if you knead it too rigorously.

3. I also learned that you don't have to braid the bread; you can bake it in a traditional loaf pan. But it looks so pretty braided that I find myself doing so every time.

4. If you don't devour this bread in one sitting, storage is key! The recipe below makes one loaf. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge. The bread should last a few days after baking. It has never lasted past noon in my house so I have yet to truly test this theory.

Today, my mom is perfectly healthy and I make this bread several times a year. Friends and family (who have also moved away from Ashtabula) always make nissua their first request upon visitation. Co-workers (who had never heard of nissua until it graced the lunch room one morning) constantly ask, "when are you going to make 'that bread' again?" I've yet to find anyone who doesn't like it. In fact, the only challenge I have found is what to "spread" on the bread. I have served it (to much enjoyment) with butter, chocolate/hazelnut spread, apple butter, jelly or jam. Personally, I love it plain and slightly warm from the oven; the frosting is enough additive for me.

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Finnish Nissua Recipe

Ingredients:

2/3 cup and 1 tablespoon of whole milk

3 tablespoons of margarine

1/3 cup of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

.25 ounce packet of quick rise yeast

2 1/2 tablespoons of warm water

1 egg

1 tablespoon of ground cardamom

2 1/2 cups of bread flour

1 tablespoon of butter

1/3 cup of confectioner's sugar

Yields: one, 1 lb loaf

Prep Time: 2-3 hours

Bake Time: 30 minutes

Directions:

1. For the Bread: Warm 2/3 cup of the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles. Remove from heat and stir in the margarine, sugar and salt until melted. Let cook until room temperature.

2. In the meantime, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let settle for about 10 minutes.

3. Poor milk mixture in large bowl. Beat in eggs cardamom, yeast mixture and 1 cup of flour. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes or until little bubbles form on the top of the dough mixture.

4. Mix in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto floured work surface to lightly knead until smooth. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn the dough to coat it with oil. Then cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (about one hour).

5. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface again, diving the dough into three equal pieces. Roll the pieces into 2 inch diameter ropes long enough to braid. Braid all three pieces together to form a loaf.

6. Place loaf on a parchment paper lined, baking sheet and let rise for 30 minutes.

7. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

8. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Move to a wire rack to cool.

9. For the Frosting: In a small bowl, mix together butter, 1 tablespoon of milk and confectioner's sugar. Immediately spread over bread upon removal from the oven.

10. Cool bread completely before slicing. Enjoy!

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