Homemade Swedish Cardamom Bread

This is the best-tasting Swedish braided bread you’ll ever have, with traditional flavors of cardamom and cinnamon. This bread is lightly sweet with a drizzle of icing and perhaps a few sprinkles for a fun touch of color. Perfect for breakfast, an afternoon treat or really anytime!

Some of my favorite treats are the ones that go a little easier on the sweetness. Don’t get me wrong…I love a warm cider donut rolled in sugar, and look forward to my annual caramel apple. But sometimes it’s nice to enjoy a treat that doesn’t hit me over the head with its sweetness.

Family recipe books from “the old country” are filled with these kinds of sweet but subtle treats. Back before sugar was poured with such a heavy hand, families were making delicious breads, cakes, and pastries that relied more on fruit and spices for their flavors.

My husband’s grandmother was a fantastic cook, and would make Swedish braided bread every Christmas. But she never shared her special recipe with anyone, so one year I decided to re-create it based on my husband’s description of the bread.

We went through a few experimental recipes, but finally cracked the code! I came up with one that tasted just like his Grandma’s. For someone who loves cooking, there’s no better feeling than creating food that brings back wonderful childhood memories.

Traditionally, this loaf of golden bread is beautifully braided and topped with a drizzle of icing and perhaps a few sprinkles. Who doesn’t love sprinkles?

INGREDIENTS – WHAT YOU NEED.

As this is bread, you will need to create a dough using all-purpose flour, water, yeast, granulated sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, and salted butter. The bread is gently spiced with freshly ground cardamom seeds, and finished with a sweet drizzle of icing, and topped with colorful sprinkles.

HOW TO MAKE SWEDISH CARDAMOM BREAD

Prepare your cardamom:

1. Open the green cardamom pods by pressing down on them using the flat side of a chef’s knife. Open the pods and remove the cardamom seeds, discarding the outer hulls (I also pick out papery inner fibers as much as possible – you won’t get them all though, so don’t worry too much!).   
2. Coarsely grind the seeds with a mortar and pestle or an electric spice grinder. If you don’t have either of those, add seeds to a plastic bag and crush using a rolling pin, the bottom of mason jar, or the flat side of a meat tenderizer (press down, don’t hammer it).
3. You’ll need 2 separate portions of the seeds: Measure out 3 teaspoons of the lightly crushed seeds, then continue grinding 1 teaspoon of seeds until finely ground. 

Proof the Yeast (You don’t need to proof instant yeast, bread machine yeast, or fast-rising yeast).

1. Add warm water, sugar and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment (the one that looks like a curly-Q. Mix on low for 10 seconds just to combine. Then allow the mixture to sit for 5-8 minutes until you see the yeast turning foamy. If your yeast does NOT turn foamy, it’s likely dead and you’ll want to redo this step with fresh yeast. 

While that’s proofing: 

1. In a small saucepan set over medium-low heat, melt the butter. 
2. Once it’s melted, add to the saucepan 2 cups evaporated milk/water mixture
3. Bring the milk-butter mixture to lukewarm heat (104-110 degrees). If you have a thermometer, this is a great time to use it. Too hot and you could kill the yeast. Remove from heat and set aside to cool if necessary. 
4. In a separate bowl, lightly beat your eggs. 

Making the Dough:

1. Turn your mixer on low and let it stay on low while you add the ingredients. 
2. Add in your beaten eggs, the sugar, milk mixture, cardamom, salt and 3 cups of the flour. Increase to medium speed, and let mix for 1 minute.  
3. Add 2 more cups of flour. Increase to medium speed, and let mix again for 1 minute. 
4. Slowly add in remaining 1-2 cups of flour – ½ cup at a time until mixture comes away from the edges of the bowl and a dough ball forms that is lightly sticky.  
5. Cover mixing bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let dough rest for 20 minutes. 

Line 2 (13-by-18-inch)  baking sheets with dampened parchment paper (To dampen, cut your sheets of parchment paper to fit your baking pans, crumple them up, get them wet, shake out, and spread out flat onto each pan). 

Braiding the Dough

You’ll have enough dough to make a total of 4 loaves of bread. 

Divide dough into 8 equally sized pieces. To make your first loaf, take 2 pieces of dough and roll each one into a skinny rope about 30 inches long. 

Cross the two ropes to form an “X,” (pic 1) then bring all 4 strands down so it looks like a baby octopus. (pic 2)

Take the furthest left strand and put it over the strand next to it. Then you’ll take the furthest right strand and put it under the strand next to it (and over the next strand). (pic 3)

Then the furthest left strand goes over one. And then the furthest side under the strand next to it (and over the next strand). (pic 4)

Then repeat the process.

Take the furthest left strand and put it over the strand next to it. Then you’ll take the furthest right strand and put it under the strand next to it (and over the next strand).

Then the furthest left strand goes over one. And then the furthest side under the strand next to it (and over the next strand). Repeat until you get to the end.

When you reach the end, pinch the remaining dough together and tuck it under the loaf slightly. Repeat with the other dough ropes to make 3 more loaves.

Place each loaf onto a parchment-lined baking sheet 4-6 inches apart. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for 30-45 minutes until slightly risen in size. 

Bake the Dough

Preheat oven to 350°F. Make an egg wash by mixing in a small bowl 1 egg and 1 teaspoon water together. Lightly brush the top and sides of braided loaves with the egg wash, and optionally sprinkle with pearl sugar (if you aren’t making the maple frosting).

Bake for 25-30 minutes and the surface of the loaves is golden brown (if using a thermometer, bake to 195°F). Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting or slicing. 

Make the Frosting

Ingredients are butter, powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream, maple extract, vanilla extract with sprinkles, or pearl sugar.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (it looks like the skeleton of a shield), beat the butter on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes. 

Then with the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the powdered sugar, and continue beating until the sugar is fully incorporated. 

Add in vanilla, maple extract, and cream.  Mix on low speed until incorporated.

Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and beat the buttercream for an additional 5 minutes. If frosting is too soft, add more powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until it’s just right. Or if frosting is too thick, add in more cream, one teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

Frost top of each completely cooled Swedish cardamom bread loaf and decorate with sprinkles if desired. To serve, slice, and enjoy. 

To store, wrap completely in plastic wrap. A very light coat of cooking spray on the plastic wrap helps keep it from sticking to your icing. You can keep your Swedish braided bread on the counter at room temperature for up to 3 days. But why would you want to?   It tastes best fresh on the day of baking. 

CAN I SUBSTITUTE REGULAR MILK?

Canned evaporated milk makes for beautifully rich Swedish bread, however, you can substitute whole milk if necessary. Avoid 2%, 1%, or nonfat milk, which will affect the taste and texture of your bread.

WHAT DOES CARDAMOM TASTE LIKE?

Cardamom is a unique spice grown in South Asia and Southeast Asia, with a flavor described as minty and an aroma described as smoky. I know, it sounds like a weird combo, but it works.

Cardamom makes a great tea, an aromatic seasoning in rice dishes, and is the featured flavor in Swedish Cardamom Bread. Cardamom pods look like soft almonds, in colors ranging from green to brown to black. Inside the pods are the cardamom seeds. This is the part used in recipes, usually ground into a coarse or smooth powder.

IS SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK THE SAME AS EVAPORATED MILK?

Let’s just say the two are cousins, not siblings. Both products are thick milk with lower moisture content, but sweetened condensed milk is about 50% sugar, and oozing with sweetness. I don’t think I’ve ever made a recipe with sweetened condensed milk that didn’t result in me dabbing a little bit on my finger for a taste! It’s wonderful in recipes like dream bars, but a little too sweet for Swedish Cardamom bread.

IS CARDAMOM EXPENSIVE OR HARD TO FIND?

Most grocery stores carry both ground and whole pod cardamom. I prefer the whole pod, which I peel fresh and grind myself. It tastes so much better! Pre-ground cardamom often includes ground-up husks, giving it a weaker flavor. Plus, whole cardamom pods last longer (3-4 years if stored in an airtight container). I picked some up for about $3 at an Indian grocery store, which is less than half the cost at the supermarket. Cha-ching! 

**You’ll need 25-35 green cardamom pods for this recipe. This is about 1/8-1/4 ounce. 

CAN YOU FREEZE SWEDISH CARDAMOM BREAD? 

You betcha! Before freezing your Swedish bread, double-wrap it to prevent freezer burn. Wrap your unfrosted loaf snugly in plastic wrap, then place it into a 2-gallon freezer bag. Or use a vacuum sealer to seal – but use the pulse setting on your vacuum sealer so you don’t crush your bread. It’s better to freeze it unfrosted, or else the frosting will break off or rub off onto the plastic wrap. Place frosting in a separate quart-sized freezer bag and seal with loaves. Freeze for up to 5 months. 

Some other delightful bread recipes to freeze include this freezable chocolate chocolate chip zucchini bread and this cinnamon glazed pumpkin spice bread.

WHAT DO I DO WITH THE YEAST?

Many aspiring cooks shy away from baking homemade bread because yeast can be intimidating. If you’ve ever found yourself standing in the store trying to make sense of all the yeast varieties, I feel your pain! Instant yeast? Active dry yeast? Fast-rising yeast? Ackk! And if that weren’t enough, some yeasts need to be “proofed.” Say what? 

Try not to be discouraged. It’s just like sugar, flour, and oatmeal – there are different kinds to be used in different recipes. As for the matter of proofing, here’s what that means. Yeast is a dehydrated single-cell, living organism that makes bread rise. Activating or proofing your yeast prepares it for that task. Dead yeast = no rise.

Proofing is actually a super-easy process. Mix your yeast with water and sugar, wait 10 minutes, and presto: Your yeast is proofed and ready! 

Not every type of yeast needs to be proofed.  Here’s a quick guide to help you:

• Active Dry Yeast – Yes
• Fresh Active Yeast – Yes
• Instant Yeast – No
• Bread Machine Yeast – No
• Fast Rising Yeast – No

Check out how EASY it is to proof your yeast: https://feastandfarm.com/how-to-activate-yeast/ 

PRO TIPS/ RECIPE NOTES

Active Dry Yeast is the most common yeast you’ll find, and it’s the one I recommend for this recipe.

Most cardamom bread recipes just have a nice sugary drizzle and sprinkles on them, but my husband’s grandma used a maple buttercream frosting that tastes like perfection! For me, it’s now the only way to enjoy cardamom bread. 

Use a timer to keep track of your mixing times. Overmixed dough gives you chewy bread, and not in a good way. Many a recipe has been ruined by a stand mixer left on autopilot while the chef walks away to throw in a load of laundry (Right here, guilty as charged!)

A good place for the dough to rise in a slightly warmed oven. Start with an oven that is completely cold, then set to bake at 350 degrees (F). Don’t wait for it to pre-heat…just count to 30, turn off the oven, and you’ve got a great environment for rising dough. And it won’t be so hot that it melts any plastic wrap or catches your dish towels on fire. Stick a Post-it note on the oven door to remind everyone that something is inside.

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU MAKE WITH YEAST?

• Bake these freezer-friendly Homemade Bread Buns
• Create this fantastic Ham and Cheese Stromboli 
• Make these Homemade Blueberry Lemon Sweet Rolls
• Prepare these Make Ahead & Freeze Homemade Dinner Rolls
• Create happy thoughts with this Homemade Honey Oat Bread 

If you make this Swedish Cardamom Bread, I would love to see it! Snap a picture of it and share it with me on Instagram, using the hashtag #happymoneysaver and tagging me @happymoneysaver

Print

Swedish Cardamom Bread

Swedish Cardamom Bread is perfect for family and friends joining to “break bread” together. The cozy flavor of cardamom combines with the light sugary sweetness to create a shareable bread loaf that looks beautiful on the table and tastes heavenly. It has just enough sweetness to make you lick your fingers once or twice after you’re done eating it.

Course bread

Cuisine Swedish

Keyword Braided Bread Recipe, Cardamom Bread, Swedish Bread

Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Rising Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time 3 hours

Servings 12

Calories 767kcal

Author Karrie

Ingredients

• ½ cup warm water heat on the stovetop, or 30 seconds on high in the microwave
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 -¼ tsp active dry yeast from a ¼ oz packet
• ½ cup salted butter
• 1 oz 12-oz can evaporated milk + about ½ cup water enough to make 2 cups with the milk
• 4 eggs beaten
• ¾ cup additional granulated sugar
• 3 tsp cardamom seeds lightly crushed
• 1 tsp cardamom seeds finely crushed or ground
• 1 tsp table salt
• 8-9 cups all purpose flour

Egg Wash:

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp water
• pearl sugar optional, if not frosting loaf with maple frosting

Maple Frosting:

• ¾ cup salted butter
• 5 cups powdered sugar also known as confectioners sugar
• 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• ½ tsp maple extract
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp sprinkles or pearl sugar optional

Instructions

Prepare your cardamom:

• Open the green cardamom pods by pressing down on them using the flat side of a chef’s knife. Open the pods and remove the cardamom seeds, discarding the outer hulls (I also pick out papery inner fibers as much as possible – you won’t get them all though, so don’t worry too much!).
• Coarsely grind the seeds with a mortar and pestle or an electric spice grinder. If you don’t have either of those, add seeds to a plastic bag and crush using a rolling pin, the bottom of mason jar, or the flat side of a meat tenderizer (press down, don’t hammer it).
• You’ll need to separate portions of the seeds: Measure out 3 teaspoons of the lightly crushed seeds, then continue grinding 1 teaspoon of seeds until finely ground.

Proof the Yeast (You don’t need to proof instant yeast, bread machine yeast, or fast-rising yeast).

• Add warm water, sugar and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment (the one that looks like a curly-Q. Mix on low for 10 seconds just to combine. Then allow the mixture to sit for 5-8 minutes until you see the yeast turning foamy. If your yeast does NOT turn foamy, it’s likely dead and you’ll want to redo this step with fresher yeast.

While that’s proofing:

• In a small saucepan set over medium-low heat, melt the butter.
• Once it’s melted, add to the saucepan 2 cups evaporated milk/water mixture
• Bring the milk-butter mixture to lukewarm heat (104-110 degrees). If you have a thermometer, this is a great time to use it. Too hot and you could kill the yeast. Remove from heat and set aside to cool if necessary.
• In a separate bowl, lightly beat your eggs.

Making the Dough:

• Turn your mixer on low and let it stay on low while you add the ingredients.
• Add in your beaten eggs, the sugar, milk mixture, cardamom, salt and 3 cups of the flour. Increase to medium speed, and let mix for 1 minute.
• Add 2 more cups of flour. Increase to medium speed, and let mix again for 1 minute.
• Slowly add in remaining 1-2 cups of flour – ½ cup at a time until mixture comes away from the edges of the bowl and a dough ball forms that is lightly sticky.
• Cover mixing bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let dough rest for 20 minutes.
• Line 2 (13-by-18-inch) baking sheets with dampened parchment paper (To dampen, cut your sheets of parchment paper to fit your baking pans, crumple them up, get them wet, shake out, and spread out flat onto each pan).

Braiding the Dough

• You’ll have enough dough to make a total of 4 loaves of bread.
• Divide dough into 8 equally sized pieces. To make your first loaf, take 2 pieces of dough and roll each one into a skinny rope about 30 inches long.
• Cross the two ropes to form an “X,” then bring all 4 strands down so it looks like a baby octopus.
• Take the furthest left strand and put it over the strand next to it. Then you’ll take the furthest right strand and put it under the strand next to it (and over the next strand). Then the furthest left strand goes over one. And then the furthest side under the strand next to it (and over the next strand). Then repeat. When you reach the end, pinch the remaining dough together and tuck it under the loaf slightly. Repeat with the other dough ropes to make 3 more loaves.
• Place each loaf onto a parchment lined baking sheet 4-6 inches apart. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for 30-45 minutes until slightly risen in size.

Bake the Dough

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Make an egg wash by mixing in a small bowl 1 egg and 1 tsp water together. Lightly brush the top and sides of braided loaves with the egg wash, and optionally sprinkle with pearl sugar (if you aren’t making the maple frosting).
• Bake for 25-30 minutes and surface of the loaves are golden brown (if using thermometer, bake to 195°F). Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting or slicing.

Make the Frosting:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes.
• Then with the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the powdered sugar, and continue beating until the sugar is fully incorporated.
• Add in vanilla, maple extract and cream. Mix on low speed until incorporated.
• Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and beat the buttercream for an additional 5 minutes. If frosting is too soft, add more powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until it’s just right. Or if frosting is too thick, add in more cream, one teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
• Frost top of each completely cooled Swedish cardamom bread loaf and decorate with sprinkles if desired. To serve, slice and enjoy.
• Alternative topping: You can drizzle a glaze of powered sugar and milk over the bread.

Notes

To Freeze: Swedish bread freezes nicely for up to 5 months. Wrap the unfrosted bread in plastic wrap, then place the wrapped loaf into a freezer bad. Freeze the frosting in its own bag then tuck it in with your wrapped loaf so everything stays together.

Since this recipe creates 4 loaves, you might enjoy using 1 loaf to make French toast or Monte Christo Sandwiches.

I love topping this bread with maple icing, but you can add your custom touch using vanilla drizzle, sprinkles, turbinado sugar, or pearl sugar.

Everything’s better with butter, including Swedish Cardamom Bread. Don’t be shy with the butter – it will taste amazing!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 767kcal | Carbohydrates: 129g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 394mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 63g | Vitamin A: 727IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 4mg

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