Name: Julekake
Yield: Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients: 1 stick plus 2 ½ Tbsp. (150 g) butter; 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp. (500 ml) milk; 50 g fresh yeast; 4½ cups (650 g) strong wheat flour, plus extra for dusting; ⅔ cup plus 1 Tbsp. (140 g) sugar; ½ tsp. salt; 2 tsp. ground cardamom; 1¼ cups (150 g) raisins or other dried or candied fruits; Egg wash (see note at top)

Julekake Norwegian Christmas bread recipe round shiny loaf.

Photo by Marcus Nilsson

Julekake is a sort of sweet and rich wheat bread, leavened with yeast. It is flavored with cardamom and often filled with dried and candied fruits. Julekake is traditionally served for Christmas in Norway with different toppings, which can be either sweet or savory.

A note about egg wash: I find that the best way of making egg wash is to crack an egg into what might seem an unnecessarily large bowl before adding about half a quantity (the egg is one quantity) of milk. The easiest way of doing this is simply to measure the milk using one half of the eggshell. It’s not very precise, but it doesn’t need to be. The next step is very important and the reason for the large bowl. Whisk the egg and milk mixture for a few minutes, making sure the mix is completely smooth and has no lumps at all. It will foam a bit, but if you leave the mix to rest for a few minutes before using it, this will disappear. Most people crack the egg into a cup and add liquid before whisking around with a brush or some piece of cutlery. This leads to lumpy and uneven egg wash. Apply your egg wash in a thin layer using a good pastry brush. One coating is enough, it just needs to glisten from egg to brown well, it doesn’t need to be soaking wet. For all leavened doughs, they need to be baked when the egg wash has just been applied and is still wet. If it dries up it will crack in the baking process.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘The Nordic Baking Book’ by Magnus Nilsson. Buy the full book on Amazon.

Recipe information

Yield
Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients

1 stick plus 2 ½ Tbsp. (150 g) butter

2 cups plus 2 Tbsp. (500 ml) milk

50 g fresh yeast

4½ cups (650 g) strong wheat flour, plus extra for dusting

⅔ cup plus 1 Tbsp. (140 g) sugar

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cardamom

1¼ cups (150 g) raisins or other dried or candied fruits

Egg wash (see note at top)

Preparation

Step 1
Melt the butter slowly in a medium pan. Pour in the milk and warm very gently to a temperature of about 98.6ºF. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve.
Step 2
Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flour, sugar, salt and cardamon. Knead with the dough hook until the dough is shiny and smooth and comes away from the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes, or until almost doubled in size.
Step 3
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the dough on a lightly floured work counter and add the dried fruits. Work the dough by hand until the fruits are evenly incorporated. Divide the dough in half and shape into 2 large round buns. Place them on the prepared baking sheets. Cover with a clean dish towel and leave to rise for about 20 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Step 4
Preheat the oven to 345ºF. Brush the buns lightly with the egg wash and bake for 30–40 minutes. They should have a nice golden color to them when ready.