That’s good to know, I think a lot of people have IKEAs nearby. Strangely enough, Surfas, a Culver City institution (near LA) opened up a second location within a half-mile of the IKEA in Costa Mesa.
If you can’t find pearl sugar, you can crush up cubes of sugar….
Carmen
Great idea.
Used your suggestion Carmen. Thanks!
~Cathy
boy do I need to re-read this recipe.
I hope i get a chance to bake this time. Looks like a good one.
Pleasantly surprised at how easy this was! Mine just coming out of the oven now and looks amazing! Proof is in the cutting though!
I hand kneaded this dough and it was really lovely to work with. Haven’t cut into it yet…
I baked this yesterday using half cinnamon, half nutmeg instead of the cardamom. (I’ve never had cardamom. Am I missing a lot?)
Anyway, it’s delicious! Thinking of making another for Christmas brunch.
I think you may be. Cardamon is a wonderful spice. Worth trying.
Love cardamom! It’s unique.
Made this yesterday. It’s amazing. I also kneaded by hand. I forgot to look for pearl sugar, so I used very coarse Hawaiin sugar I keep on hand for topping scones. It doesn’t melt completely, so you still get some good crunch.
Loved the cardamom in the bread!
Baked this week-end. This is eaiser than it looks. It tastes wonderful and is excellent toasted. Love the cardamon!
Never used whole cardamom before, always purchased ground cardamom. Do you grind the whole pod or do you need to remove the seeds from the pod before grinding?
Whole cardamom is lovely. Remove the outershell and there will be a bunch of seeds inside. Grind those – even better, if you have a mortar and pestle, crush them into a powder.
Thank you!
Thanks Cher!
~Cathy
or if you have a blender, after you have removed the cardamom pods from their shells, whizz them with some of the dry ingredients.
Since the cardamom in my pantry was probably 20 years old, I bought a fresh bottle of whole cardamom from Whole Foods, and the pods are greenish. Looking on the Penzeys spices website, I see that they carry white Scandinavian style cardamom and green Costa Rican cardamom (also black Indian cardamom.) Does anyone know if there’s a significant difference in flavor among the different types of cardamom?
Wowza! That little ol’ site sure does provide an education in cardamom!
Thanks for the link. Since reading that the white Scandinavian cardamom is just bleached green cardamom, I’m glad that I bought the green. It was also very fragrant and flavorful…delicious in the bread.
Alternative braiding technique that I have been eying for some time:
Ignorance:
For the first time I’ve bought “whole” Cardamome seeds. I didn’t know the seeds were inside the pods (I just thought cardamom had big seeds! ihih) and instead of extracting them, I just ground everything in the little food processor)… The Pulla was delicious and no sign of “wooden parts”…luckily!
Question for future use: do you have to take them out the pods or can you use the whole cardamom (seeds + pods)…
Thank you ♥
If I need ground cardamom, I remove the seeds and just grind those (discarding the outer pod). If I’m just infusing a syrup or rice or something, then I’ll gently crack the pod with the back of a knife, add it in whole to infuse flavor and the fish it out before eating or using.
Do anyone make the dough the night before baking? I’m wondering if I can make and shape it into a wreath the day before and park it in the fridge overnight?
Wondering the same! I will be making this again to take to a relative and would be nice to bring it the same day it is baked.
I am interested in doing the same. This bread was fabulous and I would like to make again and bring to a family party.
BTW, I left my wreath to rise for 3 hours (had to go somewhere) and it still came out great.
I decided to just give it a shot. Made the dough after dinner last night, gave it one rise, shaped it into a braid and put it in the fridge overnight (on my baking sheet, loosely wrapped. Pulled it out of the fridge early this morning and let it come to room temp for a little over an hour before baking. Seemed to work great, and I liked it a lot.
Yay! Thanks Steph! We too enjoyed this bread. A keeper. :)
I baked today and WOW am I impressed! I didn’t have cardamon and wasn’t sure what to do. Couldn’t find pods or seeds on short notice so I sprung for the very expensive ground cardamon at the store. I am so glad I did — the fragrance and subtle flavor of this bread is outstanding. I made it into two loaves instead of wreath since I wanted to share with neighbors. Now I want to make the wreath …. my continuing love of making bread never ends :) Oh yes — about the pearl sugar – I used Turbinado sugar and it is beautiful. Blessings, ya’ll!
I made this today using egg nog instead of milk. So good! Great spice and very rich.
What a cool idea!
This bread has amazing oven spring. This dough is so easy to work with. I had a terrible time trying to make a bow, so I gave up and wrapped the seam with the two strands. Other than that, this dough is great!
I too had a hard time with what I thought was a simple bow! This bread is a keeper though!
Tuesdays with Dorie 
If you absolutely must have Pearl Sugar, Surfas has it:
http://www.culinarydistrict.com/3009.html
or IKEA, if you have one nearby :)
That’s good to know, I think a lot of people have IKEAs nearby. Strangely enough, Surfas, a Culver City institution (near LA) opened up a second location within a half-mile of the IKEA in Costa Mesa.
If you can’t find pearl sugar, you can crush up cubes of sugar….
Carmen
Great idea.
Used your suggestion Carmen. Thanks!
~Cathy
boy do I need to re-read this recipe.
I hope i get a chance to bake this time. Looks like a good one.
Pleasantly surprised at how easy this was! Mine just coming out of the oven now and looks amazing! Proof is in the cutting though!
I hand kneaded this dough and it was really lovely to work with. Haven’t cut into it yet…
I baked this yesterday using half cinnamon, half nutmeg instead of the cardamom. (I’ve never had cardamom. Am I missing a lot?)
Anyway, it’s delicious! Thinking of making another for Christmas brunch.
I think you may be. Cardamon is a wonderful spice. Worth trying.
Love cardamom! It’s unique.
Made this yesterday. It’s amazing. I also kneaded by hand. I forgot to look for pearl sugar, so I used very coarse Hawaiin sugar I keep on hand for topping scones. It doesn’t melt completely, so you still get some good crunch.
Loved the cardamom in the bread!
Baked this week-end. This is eaiser than it looks. It tastes wonderful and is excellent toasted. Love the cardamon!
Never used whole cardamom before, always purchased ground cardamom. Do you grind the whole pod or do you need to remove the seeds from the pod before grinding?
Whole cardamom is lovely. Remove the outershell and there will be a bunch of seeds inside. Grind those – even better, if you have a mortar and pestle, crush them into a powder.
Thank you!
Thanks Cher!
~Cathy
or if you have a blender, after you have removed the cardamom pods from their shells, whizz them with some of the dry ingredients.
Since the cardamom in my pantry was probably 20 years old, I bought a fresh bottle of whole cardamom from Whole Foods, and the pods are greenish. Looking on the Penzeys spices website, I see that they carry white Scandinavian style cardamom and green Costa Rican cardamom (also black Indian cardamom.) Does anyone know if there’s a significant difference in flavor among the different types of cardamom?
http://cardamomspice.com/
Wowza! That little ol’ site sure does provide an education in cardamom!
Thanks for the link. Since reading that the white Scandinavian cardamom is just bleached green cardamom, I’m glad that I bought the green. It was also very fragrant and flavorful…delicious in the bread.
Alternative braiding technique that I have been eying for some time:
http://www.thekitchn.com/from-the-email-holiday-breakfa-72783
That looks really nice!
Heavenly… I loved the cardamom spice in it!
If you decide to fill it, this is another wonderful braiding technique
http://sweetandthatsit.blogspot.ch/2012/10/russian-rose-bread-with-pesto-and.html
Ignorance:
For the first time I’ve bought “whole” Cardamome seeds. I didn’t know the seeds were inside the pods (I just thought cardamom had big seeds! ihih) and instead of extracting them, I just ground everything in the little food processor)… The Pulla was delicious and no sign of “wooden parts”…luckily!
Question for future use: do you have to take them out the pods or can you use the whole cardamom (seeds + pods)…
Thank you ♥
If I need ground cardamom, I remove the seeds and just grind those (discarding the outer pod). If I’m just infusing a syrup or rice or something, then I’ll gently crack the pod with the back of a knife, add it in whole to infuse flavor and the fish it out before eating or using.
Do anyone make the dough the night before baking? I’m wondering if I can make and shape it into a wreath the day before and park it in the fridge overnight?
Wondering the same! I will be making this again to take to a relative and would be nice to bring it the same day it is baked.
I am interested in doing the same. This bread was fabulous and I would like to make again and bring to a family party.
BTW, I left my wreath to rise for 3 hours (had to go somewhere) and it still came out great.
I decided to just give it a shot. Made the dough after dinner last night, gave it one rise, shaped it into a braid and put it in the fridge overnight (on my baking sheet, loosely wrapped. Pulled it out of the fridge early this morning and let it come to room temp for a little over an hour before baking. Seemed to work great, and I liked it a lot.
Yay! Thanks Steph! We too enjoyed this bread. A keeper. :)
I baked today and WOW am I impressed! I didn’t have cardamon and wasn’t sure what to do. Couldn’t find pods or seeds on short notice so I sprung for the very expensive ground cardamon at the store. I am so glad I did — the fragrance and subtle flavor of this bread is outstanding. I made it into two loaves instead of wreath since I wanted to share with neighbors. Now I want to make the wreath …. my continuing love of making bread never ends :) Oh yes — about the pearl sugar – I used Turbinado sugar and it is beautiful. Blessings, ya’ll!
I made this today using egg nog instead of milk. So good! Great spice and very rich.
What a cool idea!
This bread has amazing oven spring. This dough is so easy to work with. I had a terrible time trying to make a bow, so I gave up and wrapped the seam with the two strands. Other than that, this dough is great!
I too had a hard time with what I thought was a simple bow! This bread is a keeper though!
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