Huh, time to post my second pulla recipe. About time, though. Pulla is so typical Finnish yeast baking, and I also bake it from time to time. This is basically the very basic recipe for pulla, for the twist comes only after baking when the yummines are made even yummier with some whipped cream and such. The whipped cream and such gives the pulla it’s festivity, which is needed for it is Laskiainen afterall. So, these pullas are eaten only once a year, just like the Runeberg’s baking portrayed in the previous post. Traditions, traditions.
Laskiaispullas
2,5 dl milk
egg, small
1 dl sugar
2-4 ts cardamom
1/2 ts salt
25 g fresh yeast
about 7-8 dl all-purpose flour
100 g margarine
another small egg for brushing
some sugar crystals
For the filling:
strawberry jam and/or marzipan
2 dl whipped cream
2 tbl sugar
1. Soften or melt the margarine. Also, margarine at room-temperature would work fine.
2. Measure the sugar, salt, egg and cardamom into a bowl.
3. Warm up the milk ’till lukewarm and dissolve the yeast into it. Mix together with the sugar, salt, egg and cardamom.
4. Add the flour in couple batches kneading well all the time. Knead ’till the dough starts to come off from the edges of the bowl and you have obtained a smooth dough.
5. Add the soft/melted margarine and knead ’till fully combined. Cover the dough and let it rest for about an hour in a warm place ’till doubled in size.
6. Once the dough has proofed, take it out onto a floured working table. Knead the dough a bit back together and divide into 12-14 equal pieces (I weighed out 14 x 75-80g). Form the pieces into balls and place onto an oven tray with baking paper. Leave about 2cm gap between the pullas so they have room to rise. Better to divide the pullas onto two trays than place them too close together.
7. Cover with a kitchen towel and let the pullas proof for further 30 minutes. Heat up the oven to 225°C.
8. Brush the pullas with some egg and sprinkle some sugar crystals on the top. Bake in the center of the oven for about 10-15 minutes ’till golden brown. Turn the tray around in between if needed.
9. Let the pullas cool down properly before filling them. I filled only eight to begin with. The 2 dl cream was enough for them, but if one wants to fill more, also increase the cream amount. And also, if you are not planning to eat that many pullas at once, better to fill just a few, and store the cream separately in the fridge and fill more as you eat them. Once filled up, they don’t keep good that long.
10. So, after the pullas have cooled down, cut the hats away from the ones you are going to fill. Also, keep the knife in a slight angle, so that you cut deeper in the middle than on the edge. This way you’ll have a little “hole” where to place either couple slices of marzipan of a nice spoonful of strawberry jam.
11. Having filled the pullas so far, whip the cream and add some sugar for flavor. I love piping the cream on my pullas, but you can simply just add a spoonful or so on each. Once the whipped cream is in, place the hats back on.
12. Enjoy! Another delicious thing from Finland!
13. Pullas are best eaten fresh, so simply freeze some right away, if you feel like you can’t manage them all in a few days.
Marika~
Bread with bubbles 