Making Doughnuts

Title: Raised Doughnuts

Description: My cousins make these doughnuts every year near Christmas (usually Christmas Eve) and deliver them to friends and neighbors. You can see them delivering donuts by bike and making them in their new aprons December 23, at www.ciresplace.blogspot.com.

My cousin said, "Our family tradition came about because on a very snowy Idaho Christmas in the late 50's or early 60's they were homebound. No one could travel to see us or we to see them. Velva announced, "We'll still have fun. Let's make doughnuts" (she actually said, 'spudnuts', which is what you would make if you were in Idaho!) So we made this delicious treat on what became a memorable Christmas Day. . . We now have friends who eagerly await their doughnuts each year."

Ingredients:
2 packages or 2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
2/3 cup powdered milk
2 cubes butter or margarine, softened
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
12 - 14 cups flour

Directions: Add warm water to mixer (I use my Bosch.) Add yeast and part of the sugar. Let sit for five minutes. Add powdered milk, butter, sugar, salt, and eggs. Mix slightly. Add three cups flour, mix together, then while mixer is on slow sped, slowly add remaining flour until dough begins to leave sides of bowl. Knead dough for 3 - 5 minutes.

Place in large bowl and let rise until finger leaves an indentionPunch down and take about 1/4 of the dough and roll 1/2 inch thick. Cut with doughnut cutter (or we have also used a drinking glass with the top of the salt shaker for the hole :) (We used a medicine measuring cup to cut the center.) Let rise until doubled. Continue cutting doughnuts adding scraps to the new dough.

Fry in deep hot oil (375 degrees F) until browned, turning just ONCE. (We used our electric fondue pots and set our temp at 325 degrees.) Test the oil with a doughnut hole to make sure temperature is right. If you try to fry too many at once, the oil cools down too fast. My cousin says they fry outside because that fried oil smell isn't the favorite in the house. Drain on paper towels. While warm, dip into glaze.

Glaze: 1 cup water to each pound of powdered sugar. Place in a deep pan and heat until dissolved. Add 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1 tsp. mapleline flavoring. Glaze doughnuts on both sides and place on a rack over cookie sheet to drain.

Our family decided to make them last night as part of a birthday celebration and for a fun treat to eat. One of our kids said these are as good as Krispy Kreme which is saying a lot from them. My husband said they used to make doughnuts growing up too, so he enjoyed making these as well and said it's a great recipe.

We did share some of these doughnuts because this made 4 dozen and that is just too tempting for us. I'm sure we'll make them again and again. I want to thank my Arizona cousins for sharing their Christmas tradition with the rest of us. The cousins use www.myfamily.com to share recipes, photos, news and to just stay in touch between family reunions.

Making Our Mother's Pulla Recipe

Title: Pulla--Finnish coffee bread braid eaten in all homes in Finland. So common you can buy it any day there, but if you want it in the states you must make it yourself.

Often, served when you visited our family's home or if our parents came to visit you -- our mother's trademark!

She did not have this recipe with her when she came to the States nor had she been the baker in the home. The oldest girl in each family was the baker. So she developed this recipe with trial and error. Now other Finnish Americans, American neighbors and even Finns in Finland use her recipe as well. After making it for over 50 years, she can no longer make it herself. She even taught our Father to make it when she no longer could, but now many others carry on her legacy.

Ingredients:

3 T dry yeast, dissolved in 3/4 c. warm water

3 c hot milk, powdered is okay

3 c sugar or less

2 1/4 t salt

6 eggs

2 cubes margarine, softened at room temperature

3 T crushed cardamom

12-14 c flour It does need to be adjusted for sea level from high altitude with less flour. Add enough flour until it pulls easily away from your fingers as you knead it. She never measured, but knew by the look and feel.

2 more eggs for basting

Directions: In a large plastic tupperware type bowl (need the lid ready), add sugar and salt. Pour hot milk over them. Stir to dissolved. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 3/4 c. warm water. In another bowl, beat eggs then add to large bowl with milk, sugar and salt mixture, stirring well. (This cools the mixture so you can then add the yeast from small bowl). Add crushed cardamom, stir well. Add flour, a little at a time, then add margarine, working it in with your fists. On a floured surface, knead it for 8 to 10 minutes, adding enough flour if necessary to make it pull away easily and is smooth. Put the lid on your large plastic tupperware type bowl. 

Place it in the sink filled with hot water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Let rise to double--about when lid pops up. Because dough has so much butter and sugar, it is slow to rise, about 2 1/2 hours. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll about a cupful of dough, making a rope about the size of your two fingers and about 18 inches long. Make 3 or 4 ropes and braid together. Place on a greased cookie sheet or on baking paper sheets. Two fit on each sheet. Place a dish towel for over them and let rise for 1/2 hour. Baste with a beaten egg. Sprinkle with slivered almonds and "rae" pearl sugar, smaller in size than rock salt.  You can get this at Scandinavian shops.  

Bake at 375 for 12 minutes then turn the pan around in oven so it'll brown more evenly and bake for about another 12 minutes. *You may purchase french bread loaf bags from your local bakery section to put the loaves in.

Number Of Servings:  6 loaves
Preparation Time:   Plan a time when you can be around for 5-6 hours.

At Christmas time, leave off the rae sugar and after the loaves have baked and cooled, brush powdered sugar glaze on and decorate with red and green candied pineapple, cut in 1/4ths and placed alternating along braid. *For the Christmas deliveries, our Father cuts cardboard pieces the length and width of the pulla and covers them with aluminum foil. Once the pulla is on the board, he puts plastic saran wrap over the pulla and scotch tapes it underneath all the sides. Then they place a gift tag and red or green Christmas bow on it. One Christmas our Father made wooden bread boards which either had one of the other of her two mottos wood burned into them. Her mottos "The thing you share with others is the thing that you enjoy!" and "Breathes there a wife with soul so dead who to her husband has never said, this is my own real homemade bread!"

When one batch is ready, we'd don our red elf hats and go deliver the fresh pulla to the next round of friends or neighbors. Merry Christmas and Hauskaa Joulua!

I only made Christmas Pulla loaves for our extended family Christmas party shown here and to give my parents and siblings this Christmas and for our own family to enjoy. I know one of our brothers also made pulla loaves this Christmas for his family and yet another brother's daughter made it for their family too. Also there are several relatives, friends and neighbors who now make it themselves for their families as it's just not Christmas with out our Mother's Pulla!

In our family growing up and still in mine now, we make Pulla boys and girls to eat on Christmas morning with hot chocolate (we aren't coffee drinkers) and sometimes we have our traditional rice porridge with a lone almond for good luck to the receiver in it. It's always fun to stuff the raisins in for the eyes, nose and mouth. I'd always pick them out when it came time to eat them though. We made Pulla boys and girls this Christmas. Each person gets to decorate their own with hair and face how they want to.

I am so thankful for this tradition and getting to help my mother make it since I was 3. She said I asked her at 3 during Christmas, "Mommy are we running a bakery?" Now our children like to help make it and eat it too. Her legacy continues. Bread is the staff of life we were taught growing up. It is to be reverenced, enjoyed and appreciated.

Finnish Christmas Dinner Menu

I'm busy making prepations for my side of the family's Finnish Christmas dinner party. A typical Finnish Christmas Dinner includes ham, fish, casseroles and salads. Here is a suggested menu.

Ham
Porkkana Lattikko (Carrot Casserole)
Peruna Lattikko (Potato Casserole)
Lanttu Lattikko (Rutabaga Casserole)
Beet and Apple Salad or Cranberry Salad
Hapan kaali salaattii (Sauerkraut Salad)
Ruis Leipa (Rye Bread)
Sillia-- Pickled Herring
Gravi Lohi – Raw thinly sliced Salmon strips
Karjalan Piirakka (Karelian Rice Pastries)
Egg Butter
Sima
Desserts
Riisi Puuro – Rice Porridge w/ almond in it
Rusina Soppa – Raisin Soup
Pulla Cardamom (Coffee Braid)
Joulu Torttuja (Prune Filled Tarts)
Piparkakut (instead of gingerbread)
Assat S shaped cookies

The menu always includes casseroles. These are three that our mother always served on Christmas Eve. Casseroles were used because they didn't have access to refrigeration in those days, so they used root vegetables of potato, carrot and rutabaga. It's not Christmas to me if I don't taste these sometime during the season.

Title: Peruna Kiusaus (Potato Temptation)

Description:
I call it "Matchstick Potato Casserole". This is a potato casserole used in Christmas dinner, but also easy to make for any time of year.

Ingredients:
6-7 coarsely grated raw potatoes
2 cups chopped onion
2 1/2 - 3 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper

Directions:
Peel and grate potatoes into cold water. Grease a 913 dripper pan and put potatoes (drain of water) and onions in layers. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the potatoes to barely cover. Bake at 300 degrees for about 2 hours. Great served with ham or any meat.
Note: You may add 1 1/2 - 2 cups of cubed, cooked ham. If you are of "Scandinavian" origin, you may want to add a can of Anchovy Fillets with juice, but use less salt.


Title: Porkkana Laatikko (Carrot and Rice Casserole)

Description:
This is the traditional Finnish Carrot and Rice Casserole.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 cup half and half
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons brown sugar
salt to taste
2-3 Tbs. chopped almonds


Directions:
Boil carrots in salted water until done. Drain and save the water. Remove carrots from pan and add enough water, if necessary, to make 1 1/2 cups pour rest of of liquid back into the pan and let it come to a boil. Stir in uncooked rice. Cover and steam on low for 20 minutes. Meanwhile mash cooked carrots. Add half and half, beaten egg, and brown sugar, mixing well. When rice is done, stir into carrot mixture, adding salt to taste. Pour into a well greased 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.

A great compliment for meat dishes, especially ham. Freezes well.

Number Of Servings:Serves 6-8.

Preparation Time:Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.


Title: Lanttulaatikko (Rutabaga Casserole)

Description:
Even if Finns don't eat it, they make it for the smell at Christmas. Our mother always makes and eats it.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 lbs. rutabagas (yellower than the turnip)
1 1/3 cups half and half
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
3 eggs
3/4 cup dark Karo syrup
1/4-1/3 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1/2 t white pepper
salt to taste (remember some salt comes from the salted water you cook the rutabagas in)

Directions:
Peel and cut the rutabagas into very small pieces. (They take a long time to cook.) Cover with water. Sprinkle on some salt. Boil until soft. Mix half and half and and the bread crumbs in a small bowl and let "swell" while the rutabagas are boiling. Drain and save 1/2 c of the cooking water. Mash rutabagas very fine adding water. Add cream and crumb mixture into the mashed rutabagas, mixing well. Add beaten eggs and Karo. Season with spices being careful not to use too much nutmeg as it develops a stronger taste while baking. Salt to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Keeps well for several days in the refrigerator. Reheat to serve. Freezes well.

Speculaas Cookies from Belgium

Title: Speculaas Cookies from Belgium

Description:
In the Low Countries of northern Europe, St. Nicholas traditionally rewards good children with flat cinnamon-spiced cookies called speculaas. These crisp, sculpted-looking cookies were once commonly made in elaborately carved wooden molds, often handed down from one generation to the next. Today, speculaas are commerically sold year-round in Belgian, Dutch and German bakeries, usually as thin rolled cookies cut in simple shapes. Here is a quickly assembled speculaas dough from Sunset Magazine December 1980.

*Note: They were great! They disappeared very quickly--and some people we shared them with were delighted with the flavor--saying they preferred them over the gingerbread they were accustomed to eating at christmas. The cookies tasted alot like the kind we're used to, although I thought maybe they needed a little more cinnamon, and maybe a dash of nutmeg. Texture-wise they were more dense, and more crispy--yet-chewy than the commercial Lotus brand to which we've become accustomed. (Kind of like commercial chocolate chip cookies vs. homemade) After this year, I don't think I could go back to the commercial kind. This kind held up much better in the way we have come to love them: crumbled up in a bowl with cold milk poured over them and eaten with a spoon!


Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (*note: a dash more, and a dash of nutmeg if desired)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter with sugar until creamy. Beat in egg until fluffy. In another bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, and baking powder. Gradually add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, mixing at low speed until well blended. (note: The mixture will seem quite dry and crumbly, hard to keep together--almost like pie dough mix without any liquid added. If you let it set at all uncovered, or if it seems just too dry, add a teaspoon of water or so, if you must.) Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

To cut out with cookie cutters, roll well-chilled dough on a generously floured board to 1/16-inch thickness. Dip standard cutter in flour (or dust interior of molded cutter), then press into dough. With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to a well-greased cookie sheet, placing them about 1/2 inch apart.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until edges begin to turn dark, about 6 to 8 minutes for thin, rolled cookies. Cool cookies on baking sheet 1 minute before removing them with a spatula to a wire rack. Cool completely: store airtight at room temperature up to 2 weeks or freeze.

Number Of Servings:Makes about 4 dozen thin, 3-inch-square cookies.

Finnish Recipes

The Finnish Christmas Baking season has begun.

And the next generation is learning how to make Joulu Torttuja, the traditional prune filled tarts, I grew up with. They are time intensive, but the taste and aroma are worth it. We made them at my mother's so she could smell them baking, since we had the time with no kindergarten yesterday. She could hardly stand waiting for them to come out of the oven.



Title: Joulu Torttu copyright
Description: Traditional Finnish Christmas prune filled pastry. A tradition in our family.

Filling: 2-48oz. pkgs. pitted punes. Enough water to barely cover. 1 cup sugar. Stir in well. Boil gently 20-30 minutes. Pour all into food processor and puree until smooth. Taste for desired sweetness and add sugar to taste. Pour into cool whip sized bowl.

Pastry: 1 1/3 cup whipping cream, 3 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 3 cubes butter or margarine (1 1/2 cup)Whip cream and into it mix 1 cup of the flour with baking powder in it. Add soft margarine or butter kneading it in well with your fist. Add rest of flour and knead into the dough mixture until smooth. Form into a ball and wrap with saran wrap. Chill for a few hours or may be frozen and kept for weeks before baking. Never double, if you want more, make two batches.

Directions: Roll out chilled pastry dough. Cut into circle with cookie cutter or top of glass. Gently stretch each one in your hand. Add a tiny spoonful of prune filling into center. Be careful not to get too much. Wet the edges of pastry. Fold pastry over in half. Place close together on cookie sheet. Use parchment paper underneath them. Chill tray in fridge for a few minutes. Baste with a whipped egg for color. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown --about 20 minutes.

Number Of Servings: About 4 dozen.