Margaret Armstrong’s Julekage

Grandma’s good friend and Leslee’s godmother always brought Julekage to the LeRoux house at Christmas. She would bake small loaves and give them to her friends at the holidays. I loved turkey sandwiches on her Julekage, with mayonnaise and cranberries.

Years ago, I had Grandma and Margaret come over to my house so I could learn how to make Margaret’s Julekage. Now I make it every Christmas, usually a day or two before Christmas Eve, when I get out to the farm. It takes a whole day. This recipe is big and sticky and hard to handle, but it is worth it, because every year I get to have my turkey sandwich on Julekage, with mayonnaise and cranberries. It is also great toasted, with butter and if you are Norwegian, or married to one, add a little gjeost. It’s yummy and it tastes like Christmas.

4 cups milk (1 can evaporated milk is included in the four cups)

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 tsp. salt

Heat together in sauce pan until butter melts.

Cool to approximately 130 degrees.

Pour into large metal bowl and whisk in three packages of fast-rising yeast.

Whisk in 2 eggs and 4 cups flour.

Cover and let rise in warm place until mixture doubles in size.

Chop up one container of red and one container of green candied cherries and add to mixture.

Stir with wooden spoon and add 1 and 1/2 tsp. cardamom and enough flour so dough is easy to handle, about 6 to 7 cups. Knead in bowl, roll into loaves, put in bread pan and let rise again until the dough reaches the top of the pan.

This usually makes five to six loaves. Once cooled, they can be wrapped in foil and frozen. Or make several small loaves and give them away as Christmas presents.

Bake 375 degrees for 40 minutes.