Acornell.2721 net.cooks utzoo!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!cornell!gil Sat Apr 10 21:05:41 1982 Finnish Braid FINNISH BRAID 5 - 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 pkgs active dry yeast 1/2 tsp ground cardamom 1 cup milk 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp salt 2 eggs 1 TBS grated orange peel 1/3 cup orange juice 1 egg yolk 1 TBS milk In large bowl combine 2 cups of the flou, the yeast and the cardamom. In a saucepan heat 1 cup milk, butter, sugar and salt just till warm (115-120F), stirring constantly till butter almost melts. Add to dry mixture in bowl; add eggs, orange peel and juice. Beat at low speed of electric mixer for 1/2 minute, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. By hand, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough. Turn out on floured surface; knead until smooth, 5 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; turn once to grease surface. Cover and let rise till double, about an hour. Punch down. Divide in half Divide each half in thirds; shape into six balls. Cover; let rest ten minutes. Roll each ball to a 16" rope. Line up three ropes, 1" apart, on greased baking sheet. Braid loosely, beginning in middle and working toward ends. Pinch ends together and tuck under. Repeat with remaining balls. Cover; let rise in warm place till almost double, about 30 minutes. Stir together remaining egg yold and 1 TBS milk. Brush braids with egg mixture. Bake in 350F over for 25 to 30 minutes or till golden brown. Cover loosely with foil last 5 to 10 minutes to prevent over- browning. This is an extraordinarily delicious bread. It is a little sweet without being too cake-like. ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.