Bake

Braided Pistachio Loaf (Swedish Pistagelängd)

March  6, 2024
5
1 Ratings
Photo by Elvin Abril
  • Prep time 2 hours 30 minutes
  • Cook time 20 minutes
  • Serves 2 loaves
Author Notes

A pistachio loaf–or pistageländ as it's called in Swedish–is a classic mid-day fika treat. Fika, for those unfamiliar, is a Swedish tradition of enjoying coffee and sweet treats around 11 am and 3 pm, usually with others. It’s made with a cardamom-flavored yeasted dough filled with a pistachio and almond paste. The toppings on pistachio loaves vary from cafe to cafe, but most commonly include pearl sugar. You’ll often also see chopped pistachios and slivered almonds.

My inspiration for developing this recipe stemmed from the countless times I've heard my Italian dad, in his thick American-Swedish accent, suggest, 'should we go get a pistageländ?' While I'm not entirely sure if he'll use this recipe to make it himself, at least it’s here if he ever needs it. Or, for the next time I’m home and am in a baking mood (which let's be real, I almost always am).


Tips:
-If you don’t have peeled almonds, blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes and dry them off with a paper towel. You should be able to pop the almonds right out of their peel.
-To store, wrap each loaf in plastic wrap and place them in a sealable plastic bag. They can be frozen for up to 3 months.
-I prefer to use salted butter but feel free to use unsalted if you want more control of the salt levels.
Nea Arentzen

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Yeasted Dough
  • 1 cup (250g) whole milk
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons (6g) active dry yeast
  • 2 1/2 cups
    1 tablespoon (400g) bread flour


  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom (from ~½ teaspoon whole cardamom seeds)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Diamond crystal kosher salt
  • 6 tablespoons salted butter, softened
  • Pistachio–Almond Filling
  • 3/4 cup (75g) unsalted pistachios, shelled (plus more for garnish)
  • 1/2 cup (50g) almonds, peeled
  • 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
  • 1 egg white (reserve yolk for egg wash)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon whole milk or cream
  • Pearl sugar (optional)
  • Slivered almonds (optional)
Directions
  1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan over low until it’s just lukewarm to the touch or reads between 100 to 110ºF (this is where yeast activates best). Don’t let it get too hot as it will kill the yeast. Alternatively, warm the milk in the microwave in 10-second spurts.
  2. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer with the bread hook attachment. Pour in the lukewarm milk and let it sit until the yeast has dissolved and the top is slightly foamy, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the flour, ground cardamom, and salt to the bowl, then mix on low speed until all the flour is incorporated, about 1 minute. With the mixer still running, drop in the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed to high and knead the dough until it’s smooth and tacky and comes off the sides of the bowl, about 8 to 10 minutes. To see if the dough is kneaded enough, pinch a piece and pull away. If it tears quickly, continue kneading for a few minutes more. If it stretches without tearing, it’s kneaded well.
  4. Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball, then return it to the bowl and cover it with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm spot until nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour. Keep in mind that the proofing time can differ depending on the temperature and humidity of your kitchen.
  5. While the dough rests, combine the pistachios, almonds, and sugar in a food processor. Pulse about 5 to 6 times until the mixture is mostly ground and resembles a coarse flour. Add the butter, egg white, extracts, and salt. Blend until the mixture comes together into a paste. Taste and adjust the salt, if needed.
  6. Transfer the proofed dough to a floured work surface and divide it in half. On pieces of parchment paper large enough for a sheet tray, roll each half into a 14”x10” rectangle (about ¼-inch thick). Sprinkle with more flour as needed.
  7. Spread the pistachio paste along the center of the long side of each rectangle. Starting at the top, use a knife or pastry cutter to cut 1-inch-thick diagonal slits evenly along each side of the dough toward the filled center (leaving the center uncut).
  8. Starting on one side, grab a dough flap and fold it down and across the pistachio paste to meet the end of the second flap on the opposite side. Then take the first flap on the opposite side and fold it over the paste to meet the other side. Continue to braid the dough like you would a fishtail braid or as you might lace a shoe until you reach the last piece. Slightly tuck the ends underneath the center. Repeat with the second loaf. Cover them both with the kitchen towel and let them rest until slightly risen, another 30 minutes to one hour.
  9. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Whisk the reserved egg yolk with milk or cream, then brush over the braided loaves. Sprinkle both with chopped pistachios, pearl sugar, and almonds, if using. Bake until the breads are golden-brown on the top and the center reaches 210ºF, about 15 minutes if using the convection setting on your oven, or 15 to 20 minutes if using the standard setting.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Nea Arentzen
    Nea Arentzen
  • W J Freeman
    W J Freeman
Nea Arentzen

Recipe by: Nea Arentzen

Content creator & recipe developer

2 Reviews

W J. June 19, 2024
A super dish! One that, so far, has been overlooked in the reviews. Let me correct that. This braided pistachio loaf (Pistagelängd) is a winner. Make it and amaze your family, friends, guests, passersby and complete strangers.

It sounds a lot harder to make than it is. Thank you for giving most of the Rx in grams. I converted what few items which remained.

Since I have an Ankarsrum, I just put everything in the Ankarsrum bowl, turned in on for four minutes using the scraper and roller, then after it had stopped, I put in on med-high speed for ~12 minutes and walked away. I know my yeast is good, so I didn't bother with the hot milk or dropping the butter in a tablespoon at a time. I did add 8g of fresh ground cardamom instead of 5g, 'cause I like green cardamom and usually have it on had for Indian dishes and curries.

Beautiful, elastic, somewhat tacky dough. I marked out a 10x14" rectangle on the back of two sheets of parchment which fit my baking pans, moistened the counter top so the parchment would stick, floured the top surface of the parchment and easily rolled each half of the dough to fit the rectangle. Using a pizza cutter I cut short strips about every inch on about a 45° angle on the long edge of the rectangle. These quickly pulled back to thinner strips, so maybe next time, I will cut the strips every 1.5 to 2". In any case it laced, just fine.

I made the filling at ~1.5X the Rx amount for the nuts (pistachio (119g) and sliced almonds (75g)), used one stick of butter (110g), and one egg white (32g) and 227g of sugar.

I only had salt and black pepper spiced shelled pistachios on hand, so I rinsed most of the seasoning off using a strainer under running water. Worked fine. My almonds were slivered but with the skins on. I used them anyway. I heard no complaints, suggestions, or comments. The filling was very tasty.

I used 8g vanilla extract and 6g of almond extract, which I added by mistake as I meant to add only 3g instead of the 2g in the standard Rx. It was a bit too much in my opinion. Next time I will use no more than the 2g almond extract called for--and there will be a next time. I will make this again and again. I made extra filling as I find filled breads like this usually are better with more filling. YMMV.

My old, small, 1980's era oven is a fast oven, so I cut the temperature down to 375°F, and baked the two loaves on separate baking pans, one on the lower rack and one on the upper middle rack, turning 180° at the ten minute mark and exchanging the top and bottom pans. I extended the baking time by first three minutes, then covered each loaf with foil to slow browning as the internal temperature (thank you so much for that!) was only 174°F (possibly owing to the heavier amount of filling) and then by another four minutes. Total bake time was 27mins. At that time the internal temp (Thermoprobe Instant Read) was 205°F. So I pulled both pans. I am a bit over 1,000 ft above sea level and water boils ~210°F here, so 205° was close enough and I didn't want to get too much more browning.

I used the egg yolk+heavy cream as a wash and 30g each chopped pistachios, chopped sliced almonds, and pearl sugar as toppings.

My two loaves weighed at total of 1388g; there was a 6.8% water loss on baking. I wish I could add a photograph for they are very attractive.

Spectacular!

Got rave reviews when I took these to my dentist's office later. They all went gaga.

That's the good news. The bad news is that as made, the calorie count is pretty high for this treat at 4.2 cals/g. That is a 100g slice (3.5 oz) would be 420 cals. Or to put it into more conventional units for comparison similar to what one would find on a packaged food, a 28g (1 oz) piece would be 120 cals.
 
Nea A. July 12, 2024
Wow! Thank you so much for your in-depth review. This was so interesting to read and I'm happy you enjoyed the recipe overall! You sound like you really know what you're talking about (: