Oulun Loaf - Oulun Limppu

The Oulun Loaf (Oulu limppu) is a traditional bread from Nothern Finland (Pohjois-Pohjanmaa).  It is not clear how old this bread really is, but digging through my books I found a recipe for it in the Tyttöjen Keittokirja (Girls Cookbook) from 1925, which was used in school kitchens. I used a slightly more modern recipe, as a large tablespoon of salt is properly no longer up-to-date with the eating recommendations....

The Oulu loaf is a slightly sweet bread, like many other traditional Finnish loafs. The loaf dough contains syrup. The loaf is also brushed with syrup water a couple of times during baking. It also gives it a softer crust compared to many other breads.

Typical spices are cumin, fennel and bitter orange peel. I found recipes using fennel & orange or other ones with cumin & orange, so take your pick. Due to lack of bitter orange peel, I used orange aroma and it turned out good.  This kind of sweet loaf is very typical for a Christmas table, but also can be eaten in summer e.g. at Midsummer with some fish.

Oulu loaf is one of those breads, which are getting more flavor when they are a few days old. But it is also excellent, with fresh butter while still warm (even if cutting the warm bread leads to interesting “slices”).

This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread.

Ingredients:

5 dl Buttermilk

1 dl Dark Syrup

2 tsp Bitter Orange Peel (or one small bottle of orange aroma oil)

2 tsp Fennel Seeds

50 g Fresh yeast

5-6 dl Rye flour

5-6 dl Wheat flour

1 tsp Salt

For Glazing (I was baking in winter when the indoor air was VERY dry, around 20% moisture, so doubled this amount)

1 dl Water

½ dl Dark Syrup

Instructions:

Grind the fennel seeds in a mortar or chop them with a knife. Add the fennel seeds and orange peel to the syrup and heat the mixture to a boil. Let is cool a bit and add the buttermilk (if you did not have orange peel and used orange aroma, add it together with the buttermilk).

Stir and make sure the whole mix is not more then handwarm i.e. Below 40 C degrees. Crumble the yeast into the mixture and add about 3 dl of rye flour to the mixture. Mix until smooth and let the yeast do its job for about half an hour, cover the pot with a towel. Then knead the salt and the remaining flour into the dough. Once the dough is well kneaded and the gluten activated, let it rise again under a tea towel until roughly doubled in size.

Pour the risen dough onto an oiled table and knead again. Divide dough in two parts and form two round loaves. Poke the loaves with a traditional poker or just use a fork. I was baking in winter when the air inside is very dry, so I glazed the dough with the mix of water-dark syrup.

Give the loaf again about 45 minutes to rise and glaze again. Warm up the oven during the time to about 180 C degree (no convention).

Heat the water and syrup in a small saucepan. Brush the breads with the syrup water before they go into the oven.

Bake the loaves for about 45 minutes. I glazed the loaves roughly every 10 minutes and after baking. If the loaves get too dark cover with aluminum foil.