Limpa Swedish Christmas Bread Recipes

SWEDISH LIMPA RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Combine caraway seeds, fennel seeds, and anise seeds in a spice grinder; pulse until coarsely ground.
• Heat milk and butter in a deep saucepan, stirring occasionally, until butter melts and milk comes to a bare simmer, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool until milk registers 100 degrees F (38 degrees C) on an instant-read thermometer.
• Stir molasses and yeast into the milk mixture. Let stand until yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour, rye flour, sea salt, and orange zest; stir until dough forms a shaggy mass. Knead in the saucepan, adding more flour if needed, until dough is no longer sticky, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Turn dough out on a floured surface. Knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth and springy, about 7 minutes.
• Place dough in a large greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a damp kitchen towel or piece of plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm area until somewhat puffy, about 1 hour.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place dough on the baking sheet. Cover lightly with the towel or plastic wrap. Let rise until puffy, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Bread will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

SWEDISH LIMPA BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, molasses, butter, orange zest, salt, aniseed and boiling water; stir until brown sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Stir in cold water; let stand until mixture cools to 110° to 115°., Meanwhile, in a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in molasses mixture; mix well. Add, all-purpose flour and 1 cup rye flour. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining rye flour to form a stiff dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into 2 oval loaves. Grease 2 baking sheets and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal. Place loaves on prepared pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350° . With a sharp knife, make 4 shallow slashes across top of each loaf. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks; brush with butter.

LIMPA BREAD

Steps:

• Combine fennel seeds, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, cracked wheat, butter or margarine, molasses or barley malt, and orange zest in 1 1/3 cup of boiling water. Soak for 1 hour. (This pre-soaks the cracked wheat and pre-releases the other flavors.)
• Add seed mixture along with baking soda, whole wheat or rye flour, high-gluten bread flour, dry yeast, gluten, and buttermilk powder into the pan of a bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the cycle for White Bread and the Light Crust setting. Start.

LIMPA SWEDISH CHRISTMAS BREAD

Steps:

• Grind anise and fenugreek seeds in a mortar. Mix everything in a very large bowl - dough will be very thick, but flour should be absorbed. Add more water if necessary. Cover bowl with plastic and store overnight in a cool place (not refrigerator though). Shape dough into 3 or 4 loaves. Bake at 200 C for 40-60 min.

SWEDISH LIMPA BREAD (ABM)

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in your bread machine in order recommended by manufacturer. Use regular (or medium) crust setting.
• Alternately, use the machine through the first rise and remove dough from machine. Place on a floured surface and shape to fit a loaf pan, or into a round or oblong for free-form loaf. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Bake in 375F oven for 40-45 minutes.

QUICK AND EASY ARTISAN SWEDISH CHRISTMAS LIMPA

Steps:

• Combine hot tap water and orange juice. Check temperature of water mixture. Should be lukewarm. Mix the yeast, salt, honey, spices and orange zest with the water in a 5 qt bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food storage container.
• Mix in the remaining dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14 cup capacity food processor [with dough attachment], Danish dough whisk, or a heavy duty stand mixer [with dough hook]. If you are not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.
• Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
• The dough can be used after initial rise though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 7 days or divide into 4 1-lb portions and freeze in an airtight container for no more than 2 weeks. Thaw 24 hours before usage.
• On baking day, dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1 lb piece (grapefruit sized). Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Allow to rest and rise on a whole wheat flour covered pizza peel for 40 minutes. Mix together topping ingredients, enough for amount of loaves being made.
• Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty metal broiler pan on any other shelf that will not interfere with the baking.
• Paint the surface with cornstarch wash and slash a cross, scallop or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top of the bread, using a serrated bread knife. Sprinkle with topping mixture. Cornstarch wash can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
• Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. Allow to cool before slicing and eating.