Best Cardamom Bread Recipe (2024)

By: Krista Bjorn

Best Cardamom Bread Recipe (1)

Growing up in a Scandinavian family introduced me to the pleasures of coffee breaks with relatives and guests, always accompanied by homemade sweet breads, cakes, or cookies. Now in my own home, I love making a Swedish cardamom bread to accompany our morning coffee and tea breaks, and this is the best cardamom bread recipe I've made thus far.

Best Cardamom Bread Recipe (2)

Sweet, Spicy, and Swedish

Known as Vetebröd in Sweden, cardamom bread is a beautiful golden braided sweet bread sprinkled with raw sugar or sliced almonds, or drizzled with a simple icing.
While it is traditionally served with coffee, cardamom bread is equally good when paired with a cardamom vanilla crème tea like our Vanilla Latte Tea. It's also great served with Swedish glogg, a marvelous hot drink made of equal parts port wine, whiskey, and rum that is sweetened with sugar and mulled with spices, fruit, and nuts, then served in a glass with a portion of boozy nuts and fruit to spoon up when you get to the bottom. It's a wonderfully decadent thing to serve with warm slices of cardamom bread.
This gorgeous loaf of bread is sheer pleasure to make. When spring rains keeps you indoors, pull out your favorite big mixing bowl, and within a few hours you'll have a fragrant loaf so pretty you'd swear you picked it up at the local Swedish bakery. It's definitely a loaf you'll be proud of.

Best Cardamom Bread Recipe (3)

Best Cardamom Bread Recipe

Cardamom is the shining light of this Swedish sweet bread. While pre-ground cardamom works fine in this recipe, grinding whole cardamom pods into powder just before you need it will take this already wonderful loaf into something exquisitely fragrant and full of flavor.
The sweetness of this loaf is adjustable to your preference, and I use between 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup sugar to achieve the right balance of sweetness that really highlights the cardamom flavoring. I often exchange brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup for white sugar, but in this instance, the best cardamom bread recipe really is best with plain white sugar.
You could use oil for this cardamom bread, but melted butter is by far the better choice, adding richness and a distinctive butter flavor that is absolutely vital.
The other distinctive aspect of this loaf is its beautifully golden crust that glistens in the light. Once you've braided the dough, simply brush it with a wash of beaten egg and water, set it to rise once more, pop it in the oven, and when you pull that beauty out 30 minutes later, you'll be amazed at the rich, golden crust.
Be sure to cool your loaf for a few minutes before slicing, then cut into thick slices and slather with cold butter before serving with a hot cup of tea or strong coffee.
It also makes great breakfast toast, or a truly decadent version of French Toast when you dip thick slices in the traditional egg and milk mixture spiced with freshly ground cardamom instead of cinnamon.

Best Cardamom Bread Recipe (4)


Best Cardamom Bread Recipe


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 1/4 cup white sugar (use 1/3 cup if you want the bread sweeter)
  • 2 rounded teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted and set aside
  • 1 egg (for egg wash)
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • Raw sugar for topping

Directions:
In large mixing bowl, stir together warm milk and sugar. Sprinkle yeast over the top and let stand 5 minutes.
Stir in 2 cups flour, eggs, ground cardamom, and salt and mix until smooth.
Stir in butter and mix until smooth.
Sprinkle 1 cup flour over dough, and knead. Add more remaining flour as needed until dough can be easily handled and doesn't stick to hands.
Mold dough into ball, place in bowl, and cover with a damp dish towel. Leave for 1 1/2 hours until doubled.
Punch down dough, divide into three pieces, and roll into 3 equal ropes about 20 inches long.
Braid the strands, tucking ends under, and place on baking paper-lined baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg and water, sprinkle with raw sugar, and set aside to rise in warm, draft-free place about 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375.
Place bread in oven and bake 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
Remove to baking rack and cool 5-10 minutes until ready to slice and eat.

Best Cardamom Bread Recipe (5)

Krista Bjorn

Canadian born Krista Bjorn has been traveling and exploring for over 20 years and loves every crazy, embarrassing, and wonderful moment. She's lived in Russia and Portugal and now makes her home in beautiful Queensland, Australia, saving her pennies for her next trip. Her food, photography and travel blog is Rambling Tart.

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Best Cardamom Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to super soft bread? ›

Instant milk powder makes bread dough super soft and fluffy and also helps to give it a good rise. It also contributes to the dough staying nice and soft after baking for a little longer than a recipe that does not use milk powder.

How to make homemade bread more flavorful? ›

If you're looking to ramp up the taste of your favorite bread recipe, we recommend adding a bit of fat. A fat like butter, olive oil or coconut oil in small quantities will help your bread achieve a higher rise and it will also boost its flavor by tenfold.

What kind of cardamom is used for baking? ›

As mentioned, ground cardamom comes from grinding green cardamom seeds. Ground cardamom is usually called for when the spice is added to batters and baked goods, while it's more common to see whole cardamom pods when the purpose is to infuse flavor by steeping the pods in liquid or sauteing in oil.

How can I make my bread fluffier instead of dense? ›

Potato Flakes or Potato Water

Starch helps the dough by trapping the gas from the yeast in the dough and makes the bubbles stronger. This helps the bread to rise and be lighter and fluffier. If you are boiling potatoes, you can use the unsalted water in place of the water in your bread recipe to help out the yeast.

What ingredient makes bread soft and fluffy? ›

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

What makes the tastiest bread? ›

To determine whether bread is of good quality, there are several factors and characteristics you can identify. For example the crust must be crisp and of a darker tone than the inside, a strong flavour and taste due to the flour, as well as a pleasant smell. What's also important is that the conservation is longer.

What major ingredients makes bread tender and improved flavor? ›

Sugar is used, even in savory breads, because it enhances flavor, texture and also causes the crust to brown. Refrigerator dough contains more yeast and more sugar so the dough can stay fresh for a longer period of time. FATS: The purpose in fats being in yeast breads is to make the breads more tender and rich tasting.

Why does my homemade bread have no flavor? ›

Salt adds flavor to bread. If none or too little is used in a recipe, the bread will lack the right flavor and taste "bland." If you reduce the amount of salt, try adding some dried herbs to increase the flavor. Too much yeast in bread will give bread an off-taste.

How to defrost cardamom buns? ›

Defrosting to bake

You can put them in the fridge overnight and then proof them on the counter in the morning, or you can leave them on the counter until they come up to room temperature and then proof them fully outside.

What does cardamom taste like? ›

Cardamom has a unique and distinctive flavor. It's challenging to describe but has peppery, piney, eucalyptus, and menthol-like notes, but the taste of cardamom is also floral with hints of citrus. This blend of sweet, peppery, pungent, and aromatic flavors actually makes it an incredibly versatile spice.

What pairs well with cardamom? ›

Cardamom harmonizes beautifully with warming spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, to infuse dishes with captivating essence. Bringing forth a medley of flavor, this remarkable spice can elevate a variety of dishes, like stews, soups and curries, baked goods, desserts, and beverages such as coffee or tea.

What does cardamom do for men? ›

Owing to its aphrodisiac properties, cardamom is believed to eliminate problems like premature ejacul*tion and impotency. The unique aromatic and substance composition of cardamom makes it an ideal, low-risk option to treat problems relating to sexual shortcomings.

What form of cardamom is best? ›

Green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomom) is known as true cardamom. This is the most common variety you will see sold in supermarkets. It is the top choice for sweet dishes but also works well in savory dishes. The bleached version, white cardamom, has less flavor.

What additive makes bread soft? ›

Reddi-Sponge is a reducing agent made with dairy whey and L-cysteine and I bet that 6% level really gave you a soft and extensible dough. The best suited product for your application is an additive co*cktail made with SSL (sodium stearoyl lactalate) and distilled mono-diglyceride.

How do you make bread soft and fluffy again? ›

If you want to make stale bread soft again, wrap the bread in foil. If the crust of the bread is very hard, sprinkle a little water on the outside before you close the foil. Place the bread in a 300°F oven for 5-15 minutes or until the bread feels soft. If you added water, heat the bread until it no longer feels soggy.

What ingredient keeps bread soft? ›

Some alternative ingredients can help give your bread added moisture. One such ingredient is milk, which has a high-fat content and can add a delightfully creamy flavor when baking. Additionally, adding mashed potatoes or cooked grains can help keep the crumb soft and tender for days after baking.

What makes bread soft and tender? ›

Usually it's gluten (a product of the protein in flour) that determines bread's texture. Bread where gluten plays a prominent role will be chewier. When the gluten level is lower, or when gluten is tamed by the addition of “softeners” like milk, butter, eggs, or oil, the bread will be more tender.

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