Norwegian School Bread

Adventures in baking today, for sure.

My husband had to do a project and presentation on Norwegian immigrants to America, including history, customs, and food, and other various things.

Of course, my husband is hopeless in the kitchen, and so I was drafted to prepare the food. Well, the food he chose, or was told to bring (not sure how it happened, but a member of his group asked if I could prepare it) is Skolebrød (Norwegian "School Bread").

I've never made this before, and it involves working with yeast (something I've rarely done), and the spice cardamom (which I've never used). And the original recipe that he gave me was in metric, so I had to go searching for one that was similar only in U.S. measurements so I didn't have to go hunting up a conversion chart... and it turns out the recipe he sent me was incorrect anyway (too much water), and the one I found seems to be more in line. I looked at several, but settled on this one, because it seemed most friendly (read: I choose it at random). From Food.com -> Norwegian School Bread. It seemed fairly close to this one, found on a blog written by someone in Norway, married to a Norwegian lady and so I trust their recipe is the real deal.

So, I invite you to come with me on this adventure in broadening my horizons in the kitchen!

Cast of characters:

Milk and water not pictured. Bowls contain (from left to right) granulated sugar, egg, and powdered sugar.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk + 2 1/2 cups milk for filling (total 4 cups)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 (2 1/4 teaspoon) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons freshly ground cardamom (I went with 1tsp on this - from a jar, the other recipe calls for 1/2tsp)
4 cups flour
1 (5 1/8 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding mix

1 egg, well-beaten
6 tablespoons powdered sugar plus 1 tbsp. water, mixed to form a light glaze
shredded coconut

Instructions:

In a saucepan, melt the butter, then add 1 1/2 cups milk and heat until scalded (stirring constantly). It's scalded when small bubbles start to form on the sides, but before it comes to a boil. It took me about 5-6 minutes over medium heat.

Remove the milk + butter from heat (I poured it into my stainless steel mixing bowl), and let cool. This took longer than letting it scald, because the butter kept forming a film over the top and trapping the heat! Check it and stir regularly. This stopped as it cooled. About 15 minutes. When milk is lukewarm add the yeast and sugar and let sit until the yeast has bloomed (10 mins or so, when it's bubbly and foamy and smelling like delicious fresh bread).

Kinda foamy, kinda bubbly, and I wish you could smell this.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and cardamom and then add to the wet ingredients. Mix until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl. (This didn't take all that long. I formed the dough into a ball so I could more easily see when it had doubled in size. That's why I love this bowl, it's got measure markings engraved on the outside that you can see from the inside for reference).

Cover with a towel and let rise for an hour, or until doubled in size (this depends on how warm it is... it will rise faster in a warmer location)

Then punch it down and turn out onto a floured surface. Keep some cooking spray handy for your hands, because the dough will be sticky, and constantly stopping to add more flour to your hands will add more flour to the dough and could make it tough. (Lesson I learned the hard way). Knead the bread until it is smooth and elastic. Then divide into 3, and roll into logs, then cut each into even pieces (making a ball the size of a small orange)

It's almost time to retire these cookie sheets... They've seen the oven *many* times.

Place the dough balls on a lightly greased, or parchment lined, baking sheet. Cover them up again, and let them rise for another 30 minutes or so.

While they are rising, prepare the pudding. Add 2 1/2 cups milk to the powder, mix well, then allow to thicken at room temperature while the rolls are rising. (There was a lot of leftover extra pudding. I don't know if it's because I didn't use enough, or because this box was too big...)

Preheat oven to 365*F (it's kind of a weird setting, I know. But who am I to question a recipe I've never prepared?) - I ended up using 375, and they were done in 15 minutes.

While oven is heating, using your finger, create a well well in the top of each roll (but not all the way through the bottom). - Sorry, I forgot to grab a pic of this! But I found that using my first knuckle was the best method for making the wells without handling the dough too much.

Then add 1tbsp or so of the pudding, in the wells you just made. This might be easier to do by using a pastry bag or a plastic zipper bag with a corner cut off (add the pudding, snip the corner, then squeeze the bag) and piping it in.

Allow to rise (again) for about 10 minutes, then beat the egg well and brush over the top and sides of the buns (but not the pudding).

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden, then remove and allow to cool slightly.

While they are cooling, mix the powdered sugar with water, adjusting amounts until a glaze consistency is reached, then brush over the tops of the rolls (avoiding the pudding) and sprinkle on the coconut.

It was suggested that these are best served warm, with coffee.

After baking, and sampling, these... I would say they are pretty good! The cardamom is something I'm not entirely sure on, because my palate is unfamiliar with that spice. Apparently it's also commonly used in Middle Eastern and Indian foods. It's very aromatic and the flavor is pretty strong.. I would say in comparison, it's close to ginger.... Which makes sense, because after a little research, apparently the cardamom plant is in the ginger family.

Enjoy! :)

~Mandy