Finnish Cardamom-Coffee Bread Nisu - packets yeast

Method

• Dissolve two yeast packets in the warm milk.
• Open 15-18 cardamom pods and grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle. It's okay to have a few larger pieces. Add the cardamom to the beaten eggs along with the salt.
• Cream the sugar and butter.
• Add the cardamom/egg mixture to the creamed butter and sugar, and mix well. Next, add the milk and yeast and mix until combined.
• Add the flour one cup at a time until you can knead the dough on a floured breadboard, continuing to add flour until the dough, in my grandfather's words, "feels like a baby's bottom." It should be soft and satiny to the touch, with no stickiness.
• Place the dough into a large, buttered bowl. Let it rise until it's doubled in bulk, about two hours.
• Punch down the dough (flour your fist first!), then divide it into three equal parts.
• Take one of the three sections and divide it again into three parts, rolling each piece into a rope about 12-15 inches long. Once you have three equal ropes, braid the loaf, tucking the ends underneath when you're finished. Place in a buttered and floured loaf pan and repeat with the other two sections.
• Let the braided dough rise in the loaf pans until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Bake loaves for 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn out onto cooling racks that have been placed on a sheet of waxed paper. If the bottom feels too mushy, put back in the pan and give it a while longer. (You can also test for doneness by knocking on the top of the loaf to see if it sounds a bit hollow.)
• Brush the nisu with strong black coffee, sprinkling sugar as you go (this is where the waxed paper will save you a lot of cleanup).
• Let cool, and try to not to eat the whole loaf!