Pulla for the EMS team

. . . to see how 'helpers' arrive out of seeming nowhere and work round the clock to help out complete strangers.  Very special people.

I cound not have said it better Janet!  That is exactly what happened.  No flooding here, but some neighbors not so lucky.

Pulla is a Finnish coffee bread and I will post my grandmother's handwritten recipe, which is exactly the same as any pulla recipe you can search of TFL -- all totally legit.  I have added a couple of twists, learned on TFL, that I believe improve the final product.

The first is soaking the ground cardomom seeds in milk -- thanks Jaqueline, this definitely kicked up the flavour!  The second was to use about 1/3 of the flour, an equal weight of scalded milk and all of the yeast to produce a sponge.  I will thank Floyd for this tip in his Blueberry Cream Cheese bread recipe near the top of the most book marked section.  The dough felt like it came together better after letting the sponge go for a hour or so.  Even with a large oven, I divided the dough into 4 loaves and baked in 2 batches.  The 2nd batch with a longer bulk, fridge retard turned out better. I only used about 8 cups of flour to mix and ample for dusting during kneading. Following is Granny's recipe:

Pulla

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 7-8 whole cardamom pods, seeded and crushed (about 1 tsp)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 9 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
• white sugar, for sprinkling

 Directions

1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm.
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the lukewarm milk, sugar, salt, cardamom, 4 eggs, and enough flour to make a batter (approximately 2 cups). Beat until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add about 3 cups of the flour and beat well; the dough should be smooth and glossy in appearance. Add the melted butter and stir well. Beat again until the dough looks glossy. Stir in the remaining flour until the dough is stiff.
3. Turn out of bowl onto a floured surface, cover with an inverted mixing bowl, and let rest for 15 minutes. Knead the dough until smooth and satiny, about 12 minutes. Place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, and turn the dough to grease the top. Cover with a clean dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down, and let rise again until almost doubled.
4. Turn out again on to a floured surface, and divide into 3 parts. Divide each third into 3 again. Roll each piece into a 12 to 16 inch strip. Braid 3 strips into a loaf. You should get 3 large braided loaves. Lift the braids onto greased baking sheets or parchment paper on baking sheets.  I prefer the parchment paper for clean up.  Let rise for 20 minutes.
5. Brush each loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Check occasionally because the bottom burns easily.

Happy baking folks!  Brian

Thanks chefscook, I was biking around the neighborhood today checking on progress and noticed the team that was in front of my house set up at another critical area.  The fireman said can I help you sir in the way that means get away.  He then began to explain what they were doing and I said, you guys were set up for 2 days in front of my house.  All of a sudden it was, "hey you're the bread guy!  Okay you can stay, in fact come have a closer look.  The EMS team appreciated the baking and I am pleased to have been able to provide this for these hard working folks!!!!!

Happy baking, Brian