Norwegian Christmas Bread | Julekake

Norwegian Christmas Bread is a spongy delicious sweet bread made by baking a blend of flour, butter, sugar, tutti frutti in a pie shape. Norwegian Christmas Bread is a must try at home for its taste and for the joy of baking. Norwegian Christmas Bread is a treat for the family on special occasions.

I was looking for Christmas Recipes other than cakes and cookies to try this year.And thats when I asw this Julekake/ Julekaga or Norwegian Christmas Bread Recipe.This was already a proven recipe as it was given in the ‘We knead to Bake’ challenge and many of our fellow bloggers have tried it already and posted, that gave me extra confidence to bake it.I always had fear trying yeasted bakes and that was only till Padma introduced me to instant dry yeast, and now I love to try yeasted bakes and find every opportunity to bake them.

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This Julekake bread came out so soft, with the cardamom flavour and tutti frutti it reminded me of our local bakery’s thenga bun(coconut bun) just the flavour alone and we all loved it so much.

If you have any more questions about this christmas bread do mail me at sharmispassions@gmail.com. In addition, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest ,Youtube and Twitter .

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Norwegian Christmas Bread | Julekake

Norwegian Christmas Bread is a spongy delicious sweet bread made by baking a blend of flour, butter, sugar, tutti frutti in a pie shape. Norwegian Christmas Bread is a must try at home for its taste and for the joy of baking. Norwegian Christmas Bread is a treat for the family on special occasions.

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings8 pieces

AuthorSharmilee J

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/4 cup maida
• 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup luke warm water
• 1/4 cup luke warm milk
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 nos cardamom
• 1/4 cup tutti frutti
• 2 teaspoon raisins

For glaze

• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

• Take 1 tablespoon sugar from 1/8th cup of sugar. In a bowl add 1 tablespoon sugar along with luke warm water and milk.
• Add yeast. Set aside undisturbed for 10mins. It will become frothy, this shows the yeast is active.
• Now add remaining sugar ,then add butter. I transferred this to a big mixing bowl, whisk it well.
• Add flour along with cardamom powder and salt. Mix well and knead it to a smooth non-sticky dough. Adjust with adding flour if the dough is sticky.
• Roll the dough to a large round, sprinkle tutti frutti and raisins.
• Then roll it up, and bring the edges to form a round ball.
• Knead the ball slightly and place it in oil greased bowl. This is a good way to knead the fruit into dough. Keep covered and set aside to rise for an hour or until it is almost doubled.
• After an hour or so punch down the dough and knead well. Then place it in a baking tray and slightly flatten it.
• Brush it with milk. Set aside for 30-45mins, I left it for 30mins.
• Preheat oven at 180 deg C for 10 mins.
• Sprinkle sugar on top and bake in oven at 180 deg for about 30mins. If you find the bread browning too quickly, cover it with foil after about 15 minutes in the oven to avoid further browning.
• Cool it on a rack. Let it cool completely before you slice it. Enjoy Norwegian Christmas Bread with the family!

Notes

• Knead the dough well to have a smooth finished top without cracks.
• If you want you can make an icing made with 1/4 cup icing sugar and few teaspoon of milk. And just pour the icing over the bread once it is completely cool. But in that case reduce sugar in the dough else the bread will be very sweet.
• Grease the baking pan with oil / butter.
• Place in a well oiled bowl while setting to rise.
• Sprinkling, rolling and kneading ensures proper distribution of fruit into bread dough.
• Cool down the bread completely before you slice them. Always use a serrated knife to slice.
• I loved the sugar topping and the crunch it gave while biting so recommend adding it.

Nutrition Facts

Norwegian Christmas Bread | Julekake

Amount Per Serving (75 g)

Calories 137 Calories from Fat 27

% Daily Value*

Fat 3g5%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Trans Fat 0.1g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3g

Monounsaturated Fat 1g

Cholesterol 8mg3%

Sodium 78mg3%

Potassium 65mg2%

Carbohydrates 24g8%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 5g6%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 155IU3%

Vitamin C 0.1mg0%

Calcium 9mg1%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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How to make Norwegian Christmas Bread

1. Take 1 tablespoon sugar from 1/8th cup of sugar.In a bowl add 1 tablespoon sugar along with luke warm water and milk.
2. Add yeast.Set aside undisturbed for 10mins.It will become frothy, this shows the yeast is active.
   
3. Now add remaining sugar,then add butter.I transferred this to a big mixing bowl, whisk it well.
4. Add flour along with cardamom powder and salt. Mix well and knead it to a smooth nonsticky dough.Adjust with adding flour if the dough is sticky.Roll the dough to a large round, sprinkle tutti frutti and raisins.
5. Then roll it up, and bring the egdes to form a round ball like shown below.
   
6. Knead the ball slightly and place it in oil greased bowl.This is a good way to knead the fruit into dough.Keep covered and set aside to rise for an hr or until it is almost doubled.
7. After an hr or so punch down the dough and knead well.Then place it in a baking tray and slightly flatten it.
   
8. Brush it with milk.Set aside for 30-45mins, I left it for 30mins.Preheat oven at 180 deg C for 10 mins.Sprinkle sugar on top and bake in oven at 180 deg for about 30mins.If you find the bread browning too quickly, cover it with foil after about 15 minutes in the oven to avoid further browning.

Cool it on a rack. Let it cool completely before you slice it.

Expert Tips

• The only mistake I did was while letting to rise my top was not smooth and I kept it as such to bake so had an ineven top.I should have kneaded it well in step 7 so that there are no cracks on top.Only lookswise it had cracks, the top was soft  not crusty.So I recommend kneading the dough well to have a smooth finished top without cracks.
• If you want you can make an icing made with 1/4 cup icing sugar and few teaspoon of milk.Ans just pour the icing over the bread once it is completely cool.But in that case reduce sugar in the dough else the bread will be very sweet.
• Grease the baking pan with oil / butter.
• Place in a well oiled bowl while setting to rise.
• Cool down the bread completely before you slice them.Always use a serated knife to slice.
• I loved the sugar topping and the crunch it gave while biting so recommend adding it.