Jule Kaka

Very nice to find this here!! Indeed a gorgeous bread, or as we would more consider it in Sweden; "en kaka". The title though is quite misleading: not that is matters to people over there, but Jule Kage is actually Danish (yeas there IS a difference!), and in pure Sw it would be Jul Kaka. Although similar, this is more correct. Curiously I have never heard about a "kage" like this being of Swedish tradition.I guess it actually is Danish and that the author has mixed up the countries. So, try it, and enjoy the smells; and give it the title "Jule kage - a Danish cardomom bread" OR "Jul Kaka - a Swedish c. b." Merry Christmas. God Jul! Josquin

My Norwegian grandmother made this for years, and now my 90-year-old mother continues to make our "Norwegian Christman Bread" using Gram's huge bread-mixer. Mom sends it to family in Alaska, Texas, Colorado, Virginia, Maryland, and New York State every year; our whole family always saves it for Christmas morning breakfast!

This is just like my Norwegian mother used to make, but in Norwegian it's called Julekage. It was a family tradition and my German father enjoyed it too. It's particularly good when heated and spread with butter and keeps well in the refrigerator. Great recipe, one of the best Christmas recipes you've had.

A very good bread and easy to make. I added a teaspoon of lemon extract to it because I like the cardamom/lemon combo, and the taste was wonderful. The only complaint I have was that it didn't rise as much as I would have liked. I would make it again, though!

Same recipe as my Norwegian grandmother used to make. She would put citron in with the dried cherries. Then she would make another batch but without the cherries, citron or raisins. That bread made the greatest toast for breakfast! I make both of them. Here's some info on cardamom. It's VERY expensive and the pungency will fade from purchase date to the next year. I keep my bottle tightly capped, put it in a ziploc freezer bag and keep it in the freezer. It is also used to season "krumkage" which is similair to a pizelle OR waffle cone that is cooked and rolled around dowling while hot. Good stuff! I think the title means "crumb cookie" which describes it very well.

This is a wonderful Norwegian bread!

Thanks for submitting this recipe Janice. It went together well and turned out/tasted great! I liked the first rising with only half the flour. I like cardamom and plan to increase it by 1 tsp. next time. Great recipe to do with the kids.

I don't know whose correct about the origins of this bread, but it's definitely a nice bread. I made it in the bread machine and used maraschino cherries bc I don't have candied cherries. It was a bit sticky (probably due to the cherries) but it baked up well and the bread itself is a very soft white bread. Tastes pretty good. Thanks for the recipe!

I cut this recipe in half and put it into my bread machine (minus the fruit). After it finished dough mode I pulled it from the can and folded the fruit in and let it raise for two hours. I made just one massive loaf. It is the BEST Julekake that I've ever made. Exceptional.

Both sets of my grandparents were from Norway, so I grew up with Julekaga every Christmas. However, our recipe doesn't use dry yeast, uses regular milk (non-scalded) and it contains 6 tsp of cardemom! I love it, but my husband calls it "yuck-akaga"--I think the cardemom is too strong for his liking . . . ha . . .

Wonderful! I had an old recipe for this bread which I conveniently lost... this one is so much better! The bread stays moist and flavorful for 2 or 3 days. This does take all day to make, however, so start it early in the day... or be prepared to stay up late at night! But it's definitely worth the effort. Thanks!

Loved this recipe!! While it is time consuming, it is not complicated. I halved the recipe and only made one big loaf. The bread turned out rather dense, like a cakey-bread and did not rise much for the final rising. I am not sure if that was me or the recipe. Also, I substituted dried bing cherries for the candied cherries. I only had cardamom pods, so I crushed three (3)and steeped them in the milk. The bread was fragrant but not too assertive for us. I first had this bread with Norwegian Gjetost goat cheese. The combination is unbelievably delicious. This is our new Christmas bread.

Our Aunt Shirley M. Klenk has been baking this Swedish delight for as long as I can remember . She's been sending Christmas goodies like Lefsa, homemade caramels to all of her family for years. It's not an easy task as this bread alone needs two 2 hour risings before you can bake it. I got my goodie box last Monday and I was saddened to see that the box was only the size of the loaf of bread itself. Knowing full well my Aunt turned 83 this past week , I sat at my kitchen table and cried. Tears of joy mind you. Why would she do this every year , year after year I sat and thought. I really didn't know if the goodie box would come or not and let this be known Aunt Shirley is a very active Woman. But anyway I am so thankful for my Aunt Shirley and my family. Just wanted the world to know about yet another wonderful gift God has given us, My Auntie Shirley... Love you!

This is THE authentic recipe..exactly like my Swedish grandmother made :) Only variation we do now-a-days is to just add gumdrops instead of the raisins and candied fruit...it's how we roll!

Easy recipe to fallow , turned out great .I will put an icing on this bread .

This turned out so good! I added vanilla because that is how I roll - and I had regular raisins instead of golden raisins. Other than those two changes, it went exactly as planned and I got rave reviews for breakfast!

Making this bread takes me to when everyone was here. The smell of the cardamom and citron fills my house with truly heart warming memories. i exclude the cherries. And in our house we call it Sista kaga.