Finnish Nisu Bread

    (51)
    2 hours 50 min

    Nisu, or Nissua, bread is a cardamom-spiced Finnish sweet bread. This nisu bread recipe makes three plaited loaves, which are spread with a simple icing. Perfect for giving as gifts!


    42 people made this

    Ingredients
    Serves: 30 

    • 475ml milk
    • 110g margarine
    • 200g caster sugar
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 2 (7g) sachets dried active baking yeast
    • 125ml warm water (45 degrees C)
    • 3 eggs
    • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
    • 1kg bread flour
    • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
    • 120g icing sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 2 teaspoons milk

    Method
    Prep:40min  ›  Cook:30min  ›  Extra time:1hr40min rising  ›  Ready in:2hr50min 

    1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Stir in the margarine, sugar and salt until melted. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
    2. Pour milk mixture into a large bowl. Beat in eggs, 200g of the flour, cardamom and yeast mixture. Cover and let stand for 20 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly.
    3. Stir in the remaining flour, 60g at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes.
    4. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
    5. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into three equal pieces and then divide each piece into thirds. Roll out with your hands until the pieces are long enough to plait. Plait three pieces together to form a loaf; repeat twice to make three loaves. Place on lightly greased baking trays and let rise for 40 minutes, until nearly doubled. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4.
    6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown. Move to a wire rack to cool completely.
    7. In a small bowl, mix together butter and icing sugar. Stir in vanilla and 2 teaspoons milk to make a spreadable icing. Spread the icing over the cooled loaves.

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    Reviews & ratings
    Average global rating:
    (51)

    Reviews in English (44)

    by
    51

    The correct name is 'Nisu' or 'Pulla'. You may want to try them like this: after making and raising the dough, roll buns a bit larger than golf balls and let them rise for ca 15 mins. Then make a hole in the middle of the buns with your finger. Fill the holes with butter and cover the butter with some white sugar. Put some egg wash on the buns and bake them in the oven (375 degrees) for maybe 10 minutes. The beatiful brown color will tell you when they're done. Enjoy with a glass of cold milk, that's the proper Finnish way to do it!  -  11 Sep 2007  (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)

    by
    34

    This is a great bread with a wonderful taste and a very good texture. I had a hard time choosing between 4 and 5 stars, but I settled on 4 because of a few minor issues that I have with the recipe. As a few people commented, I think it's better with double the cardamom, and I also had to increase the flour quite a bit (although I used all-purpose flour, so maybe that's why). But my biggest complaint is that the frosting looks kind of silly to me. Maybe I did something wrong, but it seemed to cover up the attractiveness of the bread, and lumpy things don't frost very well. Since I just made the bread for my family, it didn't really matter, but I think I'll have to experiment with the frosting to get it looking better. I'll probably try thinning it out into more of a glaze. UPDATE: I made this again and added more milk to the frosting to thin it out. The bread was much more attractive and was a huge hit with everyone who ate it! This is going into my permanent recipe box.  -  31 Dec 2006  (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)

    by
    27

    This was FABULOUS. My husband has been begging me to make the bread his Grandmother had made in his childhood. This is the best Nissua recipe yet - a keeper for sure. The only thing he said was that there should be more cardamom. I made 1 loaf regular, and made 2 into cinnamon-raisin loaves to share with the neighbors. It recieved rave reviews there also. Thanks so much for sharing!!  -  29 Jan 2002  (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)

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