I couldn't ask for a better German Christmas experience. After much delay and drama with the flights, my family arrived in Munich on Friday morning; just in time to enjoy the last leg of the wonderful Munich Christmas Markets. Everyone is loving it, especially Dad!! They all love the hearty bavarian food and the Christmas specialities like Glühwein and Gebrannte Mandeln.
We had dinner in my tiny apartment last night; they all got to try the famous Käsespätzle and I made a Norwegian Christmas Bread, Julebrød. It was quite cozy in my room but a success!
I am taking an introductory Norwegian course this semester and love it!! We had a Scandinavian Christmas Celebration with the University a few weeks ago where we saw the Swedish Lucia tradition, sang Norwegian Christmas songs, and had a potluck meal of Scandinavian food. I made Julebrød and really liked it, so much that I made it again for my family! It's a very slightly spiced sweet yeast bread, the perfect compliment to a warm glass of Glühwein (or gløgg!). Julebrød literally translates to "Christmas Bread," and I find it to be absolutely perfect for Christmas!
I found the recipe on Trines Matblogg, a Norwegian food blog. The recipe was very easy to follow and turned out just as promised. Her recipe makes 3 julebrød, so I divided it and just made one. I ended up tweaking the recipe very slightly last night; going with the gløgg/julebrød combination, I decided to soak the raisins in Glühwein instead of water. I really like it! It wasn't too overpowering, but instead just the right compliment to the spice of the bread and really taking it to the next level of Christmas baking :-)
Julebrød
Translated and very slightly adapted from Trines Matblogg
Ingredients:
330-350 g all purpose flour (about 2 2/3 c)
2 dl Milk (a little less than one cup), warmed to about 30 C/85 F
15 g fresh yeast (10g dry active yeast/ 5g instant yeast)
50g sugar (1/4c)
1 tsp cardamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
about 1 Tbsp Butter, cubed
about 100 g rasins, soaked in gløgg, Glühwein, sweet red wine, or water (at least 30 minutes, better if overnight)
egg, for brushing
Combine all ingredients except for butter and raisins in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix at a low speed for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth. If the dough seems too sticky, add a bit of flour.
Cube the butter and mix into the dough, increasing the speed of the mixer slightly. Add the raisins and mix to just combine. The dough should be ready to rise.
Cover the bowl with a towel and allow it to rise for 1 hour. The dough should now be easy to work with. Shape the dough into a circular loaf or if you'd like, a few smaller rolls. Allow the shaped bread to rest about 20 minutes longer. Place the dough on a parchment paper lined tray and let them rise a bit longer until they double in size. Brush with a lightly beaten egg and score the top of the loaf.
Bake at 200 C/390F on the bottom rack for 25 to 30 minutes (less if you are doing smaller loaves).
Enjoy with butter, goat cheese (very Norwegian!) and tea, coffee, gløgg or Glühwein!
Although I love to cook, the space is a little too limited in my room to make Christmas brunch. The restaurant Ratskeller has been recommended to me over and over again so I thought it would be the perfect place to take the fam for brunch, it was great!! We got there at 10.30 and were served food and drinks until after 2pm! The food was all very good and presented very nicely. It was definitely a good choice for a nice Christmas meal!
Guten Appetit!
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