Step 1

Combine the milk sugar and yeast in a bowl, give a stir and let stand 10 minutes until yeast starts to bubble.

Step 2

Add the eggs, the soft butter, cardamom and salt to your stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, mix everything together, then pour in the yeast mixture, mixing until well combined. Switching to the dough hook, add a cup of flour at a time and mix until all the flour is added. If the dough is very tacky add a bit more flour, but continue mixing until the dough separates from the bowl and forms a ball.

Step 3

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and  let it rise for 1 1/2 – 2  hours until it has doubled in size.

Step 4

Mix the sugar and cardamom together in a small bowl for the filling.

Step 5

Cover the work surface with  flour.  Punch the dough gently and place it on your work surface. Cut the dough in 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, cover the other rolls so that they don’t dry out. Roll each piece about as thin as you can, should be about 12 inches by 18 inches. Brush some soft butter onto it. Make sure it’s nicely buttered. Sprinkle some of the cardamom sugar over the entire surface, as much as you want. Roll it into a tight log starting from one of the narrow ends. With the seam side down, line up the dough log in front of you and cut it on the diagonal, alternating up and down, so that the slices are fat ‘v’ shapes, with the point of the ‘v’ about 3/4 wide and the base about 2 inches wide.

Step 6

Place each on parchment lined baking sheet and turn so the narrow tip of the ‘v’ is facing up to the ceiling.

Step 7

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

Step 8

Let the rolls rise again for about 30-40 minutes.  Don’t skip this step. Brush the rolls with egg wash and then sprinkle with course sugar. Bake for about 18- 20  minutes and check  to see if its cooked through, continue baking for a few more minutes if necessary. let cool and store in air tight bags to keep them soft. To serve, heat them in the oven for just a few minutes, serve with butter.

Step 9

To make a traditional Finnish braided loaf, visit “Pulla for Lea”.