Swedish Cardamon Bread

Directions

1. Combine sugar, salt, and butter in a medium size bowl. Scald the milk and pour over the mixture. Stir occasionally until butter is melted and mixture has cooled slightly.
2. Crush cardamon using a mortar and pestle until it resembles course black pepper. Add to the scalded milk mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, sprinkle yeast on warm water, stir to dissolve.
4. In a large bowl, combine milk mixture, egg, yeast mixture, and 1 cup of flour. Beat well until smooth. Add remaining flour until dough is still supple, but not sticky. Knead 5 minutes (or less if you are using a mixer).
5. Remove dough to an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled (1 hour or so).
6. Punch down and let rest 10 minutes.
7. Divide dough into 6 equal parts.
8. With your hands, make dough balls into ropes approximately 12 inches long. (The key to a nice looking braid is starting with the same amount of dough in each rope and making the ropes the same length and width.)
9. Take 3 of the ropes and line up parallel to each other. Pinch the tops of the ropes together. Braid the dough from the top down. When you get to the bottom, pinch together the base and tuck under the bread. (If you don’t like the look of the top of the braid, at this point you can go back and redo the top). Redo with last 3 dough balls.
10. Place braids on a baking sheet, leaving room for them to rise. Cover braids and a let rise 45 minutes. Brush with egg white mixed with 1 Tablespoon of water. This will create a nice shiny crust. Sprinkle with the pearl sugar.
11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake loaves 40-50 minutes. Cover with foil the last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning.
12. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.