A Holiday Tradition - Nissua

Mmmm, been promising my Gram's nissua recipe. It's really pretty easy. You might recall I shared a recipe for home made rolls a little while ago. When you are adding the sugar (I add a bit extra sugar . . . maybe an extra quarter to half cup), add a couple teaspoons of cardamom.

Now smell the mix. You should be able to smell the cardamom. If you can't add another teaspoon. Part of the reason for this is that cardamom tends to lose its 'oomph' as it ages, so if it has been hanging around your spice cabinet for awhile, it may take a bit more to get the flavor to really come through in the dough, and you want the cardamom flavor to be noticeable.

Mix the remaining ingredients in as directed in the home made rolls recipe. Allow the dough to rise, and then punch it down. Split the dough into two to three parts (you want about a 4-5 inch ball of dough to work with). Roll the dough out. Spread the filling of your choice down the center of the dough.

There are several different prepared fillings that you can use. My favorite is apricot, but I'm also partial to poppyseed. Mom love almost filling. Whatever your preference. Fold the the side of the dough over the filling and lay, seam side down, on a baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise some (I'm impatient, this rising usually doesn't last long)..

Preheat the oven to 400F. Place in the oven and allow to bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and baked through.

While it is cooking, make a simple butter frosting to put over the top. Cream butter and powdered sugar together, add a teaspoon of vanilla, and then milk to get the texture you like . . . I prefer it to be almost like a frosting, nice and thick, but if you like something more like a glaze, you can thin the frosting with more milk. Here's an easy buttercream frosting recipe that you can play with.

If you can wait, allow the bread to cool some before frosting. I usually can't, and the frosting ends up melting on top of the bread . . . not a bad thing, but it can get kind of messy!

What's your favorite holiday recipe?