Eggless Julekake - Norwegian Christmas Bread

For this month's Eggless Baking Group, Priya suggested this Julekake which is a Norwegian Christmas Bread. This bread has some interesting ingredients which looked so much Indian to me from the Candied Citron to the cardamom powder. I could not do this bread as soon as it was announced as I wanted to lay my hands on the candied citron. Now citron is nothing but our very own naarthangai which is quite popular for pickles and pachadi in Tamil Nadu. Then I wanted to use Candied orange and to my surprise, I could not find that too.. So I finally used dried Cranberries which also has a tart flavor like the naarthangai. The resulted bread was awesome!!! We loved it texture and the taste.. It was quite soft and so flavorful!!

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour - 2 1/2 cups
Instant Yeast - 2 3/4 tea spoons
Dried Cranberries - 1/3 cup
Raisins - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1 tea spoon
Warm Water - 3 table spoons
Flax Seed Meal - 1 table spoons
Warm Milk - 1/4 cup
Orange Juice - 2 table spoons
Cardamom Powder - 1 tea spoon
Butter - 2 table spoons

Method

Beat together flax seed meal and warm water until it is gooey. Set aside
To the 1/2 of warm milk, add the yeast and sugar and mix well
Set aside until it is foamy and frothy
Heat the other half of the warm milk and add butter to it and remove from heat and allow the butter to melt
To a mixing bowl, add the 2 cups flour and salt and mix well

Add the flax seed solution, the yeast solution, milk and butter and mix well
Add the orange juice and knead it well until it becomes a smooth shiny dough. You may need to add the 1/2 cup of flour if needed.
Knead it for 8 to 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.

Now add the raisins and the cranberries and knead for 30 seconds

Grease a bowl and place the dough in the bowl and also rotate the dough to make sure it is completely coated with oil
Cover and let it double in volume. It could take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours
After it has doubled in volume, knead it again for 2 minutes
Grease a baking tray. Shape the dough into a large round loaf or 2 small round loaves and place it on the tray lelaving a lot of space in between
Cover and let it rise for another 1 to 2 hours
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C
Give the loaf a milk wash and bake it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes
Cover it with foil and bake it for another 20 -22 minutes
Remove from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack
Once it has cooled completely, cut it with a sharp knife and enjoy!!

The uncut portion can be stored in the fridge after wrapping in plastic wrap. To serve warm it in the microwave for 10 - 20 seconds.

Linking this to Yeastspotting