Lussekatter
St. Lucia Buns
December 13, St. Lucia Day, also known as the Festival of Light, is a day of celebration in Sweden, in the spirit of Advent and Christmas. The recipe works better if you make the dough the day before and give it a night to rise.
Prep time: 2hours 30minues
Cook time: 12 minutes
Yields 12-14 buns
Ingredients:
¼ Cup hot water
¼ Tsp crushed saffron threads
½ Cup milk
¼ Cup sugar
3 Tbsp of butter
1 ¼ Tsp of salt
2 Large eggs
3 Cups all-purpose flour
Topping:
1 Egg whisked
¼ Cup sugar
Golden raisins optional
Combine the hot water and saffron, and let sit for 10 minutes to soften the saffron.
Mix and knead together the saffron water, milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg, egg yolk, yeast, and flour to make a soft, elastic dough. Set the dough aside to rise till puffy (but not necessarily doubled in bulk), about 60 to 90 minutes. At this point, you can place the covered bowl in the refrigerator, and chill the dough overnight. It’ll continue to rise in the fridge, but much more slowly.
Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 12 pieces. Gently shape and roll each piece between your hands to form short logs, about 4″ long. Let them rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment.
Roll each log into a 15″: rope; they’ll fight back and shrink to about 12″; that’s OK. Shape each into an S, with the ends tucked in nicely. Or shape into a figure-8 by making a loop, pinching and rolling the ends together, and making an 8. Lay the buns on the prepared pan. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap or the cover of your choice, and let rise for about 1 hour, or until they’re puffy; dough that’s been refrigerated will probably need to rise for about 90 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 350°F.
Brush the buns with the beaten egg white. Sprinkle them with sugar, if desired. Bake the buns for 20 minutes, or until they’re set and light golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and tuck a couple of golden raisins into the center of the 8’s, or the end loops of the S’s, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature; a dab of butter is always nice.
Interested in a topic of your own? Just ask here and I will be glad to post it!
Instagram: 3 Cats and Cauldron
TikTok: 3 Cats and a Cauldron
From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
Click here for an Index to all posts
