Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Finn Bun (Pulla)



Thanks to Spicecat for sharing this recipe for Finn Bun, or Pulla. It is a Finnish family recipe from Lively Ontario, up Sudbury way. I made a batch of this delicious sweet bread tonight, and I can tell you it is very tasty.

Here's the recipe:

In a medium saucepan, scald a mixture of a 3/4 litre bag of milk, 1/4 cup shortening, 1 cup sugar, 10 cardamom seeds, shelled and ground, or 1 1/2 tbsp ground cardamom (which is what I used). Let the mixture cool until it is warm, rather than hot.

Mix an envelope of yeast in 1/2 cup water with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. When the milk mixture is no longer hot, combine it with the yeast mixture in a large bowl. Add an egg and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add flour until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers. This is quite a bit of flour, approximately 14 cups.

Knead the dough for several minutes, then set aside covered to rise. When the dough has doubled in size (about an hour), punch it down and knead again briefly. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Divide one piece into 3 equal pieces. Make long thin snakes of dough from each of the 3 pieces. Braid them, then let rise an hour.

Beat one egg with a splash of milk to make a glaze. Brush over the braids. Sprinkle liberally with sugar (and if you like, some cinnamon too).

Bake for 20-30 minutes @ 350f.

Makes 4 loaves. Awesome with coffee.

6 comments:

Barbara Bruederlin said...

And it's so pretty too! I love braided food.

Candy Minx said...

You did a lovely job with the weaving.

Hey, this has nothing to do with this post. But I thought of you when I saw a litle blurb about the movie wanted:

"What is it like being Timur Bekmambetov? No artist should be confused too closely with his creations, but anybody who sits through "Wanted"...will be tempted to wonder if the life style of the characters might not reflect or rub off on that of the director. How, for example, does he make a cup of coffee? My best guess, based on the evidence of the film, is that he tosses a handful of beans toward the ceiling, shoots them individually into a fine powder, leaves it hanging in the air, runs downstairs, breaks open a fire hydrant with his head, carefully directs the jet of water through the window of his apartment, sets fire to the building, then stands patiently with his mug amid the blazing ruins to collect the precious percolated drops. Don't even think about a cappuccino."

Wandering Coyote said...

Ah, pulla! You did a great job!

I posted a pulla recipe on ReTorte a few years ago. My friend Anita's mother is Finnish and Anita has a cookbook written by the Finnish Canadian church ladies at a Vancouver parish. The recipes are in both languages. I love cardamom - it's one of my favourite spices!

Anonymous said...

hi im making finn bun as we speak. cant wait.

i am also from lively

Anonymous said...

ops. but live in bc now

Janice said...

Lovely...at Christmas I add red and green sprinkles on the top of mine.

I'm a Suds gal - grew up with this delicious bread!

JLM