Julekake

I can't believe it - I made this cake today and I am posting it today. Today since there was some construction related work, I chose to stay back at home. But the actual reason was I wanted to bake a cake. I was really skeptical as to how the cake would turn out to be and on top of that I am not tasting it. I am packing it to my relatives place as a gift. Lets hope they just find it yummy.

Julekake (or Julekaka/ Julekaga) is a rich holiday bread flavoured with cardamom, and is traditionally served at Christmas in many Scandinavian countries. It is particularly popular in Norway and Denmark. Incidentally, Julekake means “Yule Bread” in Norwegian.

This bread is more cake-like in texture because it is made from enriched dough. It is left plain or sometimes is dusted with powdered sugar or glazed with a white sugar icing. If it is not glazed or left plain, then it is usually served warm at breakfast with butter or a Norwegian caramelised brown goat milk cheese called Gjeitost/ Brunost.

In Norway, Julekake traditionally only a lime green citrus peel called sukat is added along with the cardamom. Nowadays many people also add red and green cherries to reflect the colours of Christmas. Other popular additions are raisins, candied orange peel, and coloured candied peel. Some recipes for Julekake also feature almonds, but the main flavour in this bread comes from cardamom.

I made the candied citrus peel at home. I took a greenish yellow lemon. Took all the juice out of it. I cut the peel into very small pieces. Then added these cut peels to boiled water. Soaked them for one minute. Squeezed them out so that all the juices sticking to the peel comes out. Spread these peels in a glass plate. Microwaved these cut peels at high for about 3 minutes uncovered. Lo!! the candied citrus peels were ready. I made these out of just one lemon and that yielded 2 tablespoons of candied peels.

I have 2 recipe sources for this cake. Initially I found the cake from Gayathri's space but then I wanted to make it with egg. So referred to mydiversekitchen. Do try out this cake!!

RecipeSource: gayathriscookspot and mydiversekitchen
Country: Norway

Ingredients:

active dry yeast - 2 tsps
water lukewarm - 1/4 cup
milk lukewarm - 1/2 cup
egg - 1
butter - 50 gm (soft at room temperature)
sugar - 1/4 cup
salt - 1/4 tsp
cardamom powder - 1 tsp
all-purpose flour - 2 1/2 cups
mixed candied fruit or peel - 1/2 cup
golden or dark raisins - 1/4 cup

For the glaze:
1 egg , lightly beaten
1 tbsp milk
 almonds  - Pearl or crushed cubes or chopped

Method:

• Put the water, milk and 1 tsp sugar (from the 1/4 cup) in a small bowl and add the yeast to it. Mix well and keep aside for 5 to 10 minutes till it becomes frothy.
• Put this yeast mixture, the egg, butter and sugar and salt in a larger bowl (or bowl of your processor/ machine). Mix well, and then add the flour and the powdered cardamom. Knead well until you have a dough that is soft, smooth and elastic. Add just as much more flour or water to achieve this consistency of dough.
• Take the dough out and flatten it into a largish round (shape is not important). Sprinkle the fruit and raisins evenly and then roll it up, swiss roll style. This is a good way to knead in fruit into bread dough. Then just knead the dough lightly by hand and roll it up into a ball.
• Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover loosely and let it rise till double in volume, for about an hour or so.
• When done, lightly knead the dough to deflate t slightly and shape it into a ball. Place it on a lined or lightly greased baking sheet (You can also bake it in a cake or loaf tin if you wish). Let it rise for about 45 minutes.
• If you are using the egg wash, then brush it over the top of the dough. Otherwise brush it with milk and sprinkle it with crushed sugar cubes or chopped almonds. Ignore this step if you are going to use the icing.
• Bake at 180C (350F) for about 30 minutes till the bread is golden brown and done. 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 or ice it. 

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