By John Carafoli
My first introduction to nisu bread came shortly after we moved to West Barnstable. One day we came home to find a beautifully wrapped gift hanging on our door. It was from Helmi Viliesis, our new neighbor. She was of Finnish descent, born and raised on Maple Street, West Barnstable. Helmi died this year and was famous for her nisu. I include this recipe in remembrance of my dear neighbor, Helmi (Wiinikainen) Viliesis (1930 to 2018). This is Helmi’s recipe written in her own words, when she first gave me the bread.
Ingredients
- ½ cup warm water
- 3 packages of dry yeast (Red Star is the best)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1½ sticks butter, melted (no substitutions)
- 5 large eggs at room temperature, slightly beaten
- 1⅓ cups sugar
- 4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cardamom (buy the whole seed and grind your own)
- 2½ cups milk, warmed
- 12 cups King Arthur All-purpose flour (plus or minus depending on the weather)
- Topping:
- ¼ or ⅓ cup black coffee
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter
- sugar crystals for sprinkling over top before baking
Instructions
In a bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with 1 teaspoon of sugar until it has risen to about 1 cup. Stir in melted butter, eggs, sugar and salt. Mix lightly. Add cardamom, milk and flour, stirring constantly until you have the right consistency (use your hands at the end). Knead until dough feels silky. Put into a large buttered bowl. Rub top with softened butter and cover with cloth. Let rise for about two hours or until doubled. (I let mine rise in the oven that I have heated and turned off.) Have a pan of boiling water in oven to get more moisture. Punch down and let rise again—about one hour or doubled.
Turn dough onto a very lightly floured board and knead a few minutes, until dough feels like a baby’s bottom. This is a large amount of dough and will make four large double loaves or six half loaves. Braid (three strands) and put into buttered pans, cover with cloth, and again let rise in warmed oven until double (about 40 minutes).
Brush top with the coffee mixture and sprinkle with the sugar (I use pearl sugar). Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes until golden and it tests done. Cool and then enjoy a special treat.
Helmi’s suggestion for other uses for the Nisu dough:I use this dough in other ways, like for doughnuts or cinnamon rolls. To make cinnamon rolls, roll out some dough to about ½ inch thick, spread softened butter on top and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll (jellyroll fashion) and cut into slices. I again brush with the coffee topping and sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees until golden.
