My first-generation Norwegian mother always made Christmas Bread for the holidays. The difference between Julekake and Christmas Bread is that Christmas Bread is not as sweet. It is delicious toasted and makes good sandwiches, too, especially sandwiches with cheese. Try with cream cheese, too.
Category: Norwegian
There are several ways to spell Julekaga. Take your pick. Either way, it’s a wonderful addition to the Christmas holiday.
In addition to making lefse for Christmas, my mother made julekake and Christmas bread. The difference between julekake and Christmas bread is that julekake is a richer bread.
When I was a kid growing up on our small dairy farm in Wisconsin that had been homesteaded by Norwegian immigrants in the late 1800s, I figured everyone knew how to make lefse. After all, everyone I knew could make lefse, so didn’t that mean everyone else could make it too?
That was forty years ago.
Now I know better.
When my mother was a child, sweet soup was a traditional part of Christmas Eve, served cold with julekake, lefse, Christmas bread, or open-faced sandwiches. Sweet Soup is made with dried fruit and tapioca. Here is how my mother told me to make sot suppe.