Pulla-Finnish Cardamom Bread

This is the Finnish cardamom braid featured in this month's issue of Gourmet called "Pulla". It wasn't really that much work, but it also wasn't anything special. I found another blogger that made it and really thought it was fantastic, so maybe it's just me (although I typically adore cardamom). Here's where I complain again that Gourmet has "dumbed-down" the magazine. There are better techniques for making bread such as this, and in the near future I will showcase my cardamom bread, which I honestly think is superior. I use currants and about triple the amount of cardamom in the recipe Gourmet featured (1-teaspoon cardamom to 5 cups of flour? Why bother?).

On the other hand, I live in a town full of Scandinavians-so perhaps my standards have come up a bit in the six years I've been here. We are fortunate enough to have a Swedish bakery in our small town, though I honestly don't frequent the place (three miles down the road into town is longer than you realise when all your chores are in the opposite direction) though my husband has. My point is that a cardamom braid, around here at least, is a terribly commonplace bread and I don't know why but I was hoping for something extraordinary even though my recent experience with Gourmet should lead me to expect otherwise

I now have two large loaves of this bread (one in the freezer). Anyone have ideas beyond bread pudding or French toast?