Pulla (Finnish Sweet Cardamom Raisin Bread)

It's an okay bread, but the flavour isn't great, I'd probably go for another raisin bread recipe over this one. Nice to try, but only the once.

• wellykiwi

• NZ

• 11/1/2018

I was surprised at how well this recipe turned out. It has similar ingredients to a brioche, and so has that similarly rich, buttery and appealing flavor and texture. I made only a few substitutions - using bread flour, chopped dates instead of raisins, and soaking the dates in rum (which I then added to the overall dough) for another flavor dimension. I did the first rise overnight in the fridge. This slow rise, from what I've read, allows more flavor to develop in the loaf, so I'd recommend trying that if you have time. Baked for ~30mins. Overall, definitely a keeper.

• sashamol

• Tucson, AZ

• 11/4/2015

这没有葡萄干和烤30分钟- it was great. There's a bakery near me that sells pulla and they dust the top with sugar, which I might try next time. Might also add a twinge more cardamon (or maybe ours is just really old and needs to be replaced!)

• LittleRedHen

• 12/7/2014

I love cardomom! Great sweet buttery bread for breakfast, snack, or tea. I let it rise in the refridgerator overnight and left it out at room temperature for an hour the next morning before dividing it. It rose just fine. I baked it for 30 minutes.

• Anonymous

• Detroit

• 5/5/2013

This recipe is wonderful. As other reviewers said though, reduce the time dramatically, or just cook to 195f. At 350 for the 40 to 45 minutes listed, your bread will be burnt to a crisp.

• 4Mesh

• Williamsport, PA

• 3/6/2011

I haven't made this recipe but I am finnish and have made this for decades. There are copious variations of this, and not ever have I seen cardamom and raisins together. It is either or. To an American "Pulla" as it is called in finnish, would be the cultural equivalent of doughnuts - used to be a popular breakfast, now a treat with your afternoon coffee. Not often served for dessert unless served with coffee (or milk for kids). There is a version made with cinnamon, but that wouldn't have raisins or cardamom in it. Frosting on pulla is blasphemy.

• jenny132

• 2/26/2011

这是一个很好的面包;我吃了半块对吗t out of the oven (which I regretted later). I would agree with previous reviewers that bake time should be more like 30-35 minutes. Due to time constraints, I prepared the bread up to the point of putting the dough in the covered bowl to rise and then refrigerated overnight. Let stand on the counter the next day for 45 mins, and I was good to go. The bread had risen sufficiently (but slowly enough) to roll out and bake. I would do it this way again!

• webslinger

• Rockville, MD

• 11/13/2010

I've made this bread twice and it is amazing! I recommend watching the bread while it's baking. I had used different ovens for the two times I've made it and both times I had to pull the loaves out before the recommended time because they were getting a bit too brown. I also added an orange-flavored icing after the loaves had some time to cool making them more dessert-like. Super yummy!

• mai_li

• 7/16/2010

This is a wonderful bread for the amount of work. I used whole wheat flour and 2% milk with no ill effect.

• shavaun1

• 6/28/2010

Oops... After less than half an hour my bread was already a bit burnt. I blame my cheap student-apartment oven, not the recipe (and myself for not watching it better). Luckily It was still edible and I ate it with the carmel-colored Norwegian gjetost cheese and coffee, ymmm!

• kmschott

• Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

• 6/27/2010

Cardamom bread had been a staple in the Christmas dinners of my childhood, so I decided to revisit this gem. Just as amazing as I recalled. As another reviewer mentioned, the work really is minimal and the final product is such a huge payoff. The loaves look stunning, which great for impressing guests, of course ;). The bread is dense, moist and has a taste outside of the american bread paradigm. Make this bread. You will love it.

• farkusg

• 2/14/2010

I am not what you would call an experienced bread maker. I even had expired yeast in the pantry, however, these turned out so beautifully. We took them to my son's class to represent Finland for 'international snack'. Kids are very honest as you know and they all said it was "the best bread they had ever had". We used 2% milk, and omitted the raisins, at my son's request. The end result were 2 huge beautiful braided loaves (expired yeast and all:). I'm planning to make these again today.

• Anonymous

• Ashburn, VA

• 2/6/2010

A fantastic sweet bread that I made for a New Year's Eve party. I used all the stated ingredients, except the raisins, which I didn't have on hand. Instead, I subbed in some dried cherries. What makes this bread so wonderful is the rich texture and taste along with the scent of cardamom. Without a doubt, I will make this again.

• Anonymous

• CT

• 1/1/2010

This is a wonderfully moist, delicious bread, but be prepared for something that is very rich (as you can surely surmise from the butter, milk, and sugar). My alterations included using 2% milk instead of whole and about 3/4 cup raisins and 1/4 cup zante currants since that's what I had on hand. I wouldn't have wanted the whole milk anyway as the richness was almost overwhelming. I was tempted to add cinnamon since that's what comes to mind when I think of bread with raisins and sugar, but I am glad I didn't; the cardamom flavor shined through very nicely. I didn't bother braiding the loaves since the dough was rather sticky after the risings. I ended up with two oval-shaped loaves and they were lovely. I don't think the braiding is necessary at all. I plan on making the (copious) leftovers into french toast and bread pudding and expect both items to be a delicious use of leftovers. I highly recommend making this bread instead of cinnamon rolls or any other sweet treat. And in comparison to other breads, I felt that the effort involved was truly minimal.

• akalish

• New York, NY

• 4/1/2009