Swedish Cardamom Bread

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup water, lukewarm
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk, scalded
• 6 -6 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 cups butter or 1 1/2 cups margarine, softened
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons cardamom, ground
• 2/3 cup golden raisin
• 1 egg , beaten
• 1 tablespoon water

Recipe

• 1 grease a large bowl; set aside.
• 2 in a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water with sugar; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. stir honey, sugar, and salt into scalded milk; cool to lukewarm. add milk mixture and 2 cups flour to dissolved yeast; beat until smooth. add butter, eggs, cardamom, and raisins, beating until thoroughly blended. stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. turn out onto a well floured board; knead 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. place in prepared bowl; grease top lightly. cover; let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• 3 spray a large baking sheet with non-stick vegetable spray.
• 4 punch dough down; knead briefly. divide dough into 6 equal pieces; roll each piece into a 14-inch rope. place 3 ropes side-by-side and braid, pinching ends together to seal. place on prepared baking sheet. repeat with remaining 3 ropes. grease tops lightly. cover; let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• 5 preheat oven to 350°f.
• 6 combine egg and water, whisk. brush tops of loaves with mixture. bake 35 to 50 minutes or until loaves are a deep golden brown and tester inserted in center comes out clean. carefully remove from baking sheet; cool completely on a wire rack.