Jólabrauð

Christmas bread

This recipe for Christmas bread comes from a 160-year-old Icelandic cookbook, and I experimented a bit to make it work as smoothly and deliciously as possible in an electric oven even under today's conditions.

The dough is not a classic bread, but rather has the consistency of a yeast plait. And it had risen really well and turned into quite a bit of Christmas bread!


Ingredients

240 ml milk
240 g butter
240 g white sugar
4 eggs
3 Tbsp dry yeast
600 g flour

2 Tbsp raisins
2 Tbsp chopped almonds
2 tsp lemon peel
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 tsp cardamom

1 egg yolk


Preparation

Slowly warm the milk in a large saucepan, add the butter and sugar...

...and let it melt over low heat, stirring regularly.

Remove the pot from the oven.

First the eggs...

...then add the dry yeast and flour...

...and mix everything into a smooth dough.

Cover and let stand for an hour.

After rising, check the consistency of the dough. If necessary, add a little more flour if the dough is still too sticky.

Then add the raisins, chopped almonds, lemon peel, grated orange peel and cardamom to the dough and knead in.

The dough can then be shaped as desired, for example divided into three parts in the classic way, formed into ropes and formed into a plait. Place the braid on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Whisk the egg yolk and brush it over the braided braid.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 30 minutes.

Allow to cool and then enjoy - you can also spread it with butter or butter and jam if you want to be really indulgent!

[Translated from here.]