Favorite Christmas Food Traditions

Julkalender, Day 5 —Explore some Finnish Christmas food traditions & give them a try during your holiday season

December 17, 2024

The dark winters of Finland give rise to many indoor activities. Family gatherings, baking together, and sharing favorite foods are traditionally enjoyed at Christmastime. A quick peek at the internet will reveal many lists of the top 5, 10 or 20 best-loved foods in Finnish winters. Here are but a few:

• Baked ham is to Christmas dinner in Finland as turkey is to American Thanksgiving dinner.
  Undoubtedly, most families have a favorite preparation for this ubiquitous entrée.

• Root vegetable, particularly rutabaga, casserole. Check the SFHS Quarterly archive for several
  recipes.

• Rye bread, limpa in Swedish, is historically one of the most-consumed type of bread in Finland.
  Recipes vary by region and village. Below is a family recipe from Malax, thanks to our Facebook
  moderator and all-around wonderful volunteer Syrene Forsman.

• Finnish pastries: cardamom bread (bulla), lingonberry tartlets (gömmor), and gingerbread
  (pepparkakor) to name some popular choices. Here’s a photo of recent baking fun with Ronja,
  Tove and My.

Their Mormor Marlene shares her favorite gingerbread cookie recipe from Sally’s Baking
Recipes here.

Swedish Rye Bread (Limpa)

The three types of bread I remember most clearly from 1946-47 living in Malax were rye hardtack, sweet rye bread, and (white flour) coffee bread, At 5 years of age, I didn’t learn to bake, but my mother learned both the Malax dialect Swedish and bread- baking from my Farmor Staaf.

Unfortunately, the hardtack recipe didn’t come home to Seattle withAt Christmas, dried fruit bits were added, like candied orange peel and raisins. Mother would bake two holiday variations of Limpa, one with the orange peel, and another with raisins. The aroma of freshly-baked Limpa and Cardamom Coffee bread fills the house and, as you know, it can carry us back to when we were children. This recipe is different from more recent versions.

Ingredients

• 2 pkgs fast-rising yeast
• 1⁄4 cup warm water
• 1T sugar
• 1⁄2 cup sugar and 2 T. butter
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 T. cumin or fennel seed
• 1 T. orange marmalade (for holidays)
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 4-5 cups stone ground dark rye flour
• 2 T. salt
• 5-6 cups white (best for bread) flour
• 1-2 T. wheat gluten
• 4-5 cups stone ground dark rye flour
• 2 T. salt
• 1 egg, beaten (to brush on for shine)

Directions

1. In 1⁄4 cup very warm water, dissolve yeast and 1 T. sugar.
2. Heat (don’t boil) in large sauce pan: 2 cups water, 1⁄2 cup sugar, butter, molasses, cumin or fennel seed. For holiday version, add 1 TB orange marmalade. When butter has melted, pour into large mixing bowl.
3. Mix buttermilk and baking soda into the mixture. Mixture will foam a little. Mix in 2 cups rye flour.
4. Add the proofed yeast. (If it doesn’t proof, do another batch. Rye flour needs a good yeast – don’t use old yeast.) Mix in 2-3 more cups rye flour until smooth. It will have tiny lumps which are the cumin and the chunks of rye grain.
5. Add salt. (Do not add earlier or yeast may fade.)
6. Add 5-6 cups white flour. If you don’t have bread flour, add the wheat gluten. Beat until all flour is taken up. Use a dough hook for a really good beating and to reduce your fatigue. Dough should be stiff and hardly stick to your finger when you press the dough mass. If it’s not, add more white flour.
7. Turn out dough onto lightly floured board. Let rest 15 minutes with a towel over it.
8. Knead until smooth (approx. 5-6 minutes). Place in huge buttered bowl, top side down. Flip dough over, buttered side up. Cover with plastic wrap and place in warm place. Let rise until doubled in size (could be an hour or more if you don’t use fast rising yeast).
9. Turn out on lightly floured board. Divide in half. Wrap one half in plastic. Divide remaining half into 3 or 4 parts. Hold lump of dough in both hands. Fold edges slightly into the underside and center of the lump until a smooth surface forms on top. Place ball on greased cookie sheet. Smash down with heel of hand until round (about 8″ across and 5/8″ thick). Three rounds of dough should fit on one large cookie sheet.
10. Cover loaves with plastic wrap. Let rise until double. When ready, brush with beaten egg for shine.
11. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Remove and let cool on rack when the bread sounds hollow when you snap your finger on it.

Enjoying SFHS’ Julkalender 2024? Gift a membership to family or friends that could enjoy experiences like this all year round.