Lussekatter - Swedish Saffron Buns
Lussekatter are traditionally eaten in Sweden on Saint Lucia's Day, also known as the Festival of Light. Saint Lucia's Day is celebrated on December 13, but I reckon these buttery saffron buns make fantastic year-round treats. The recipe was slightly adapted from Call me cupcake blog.
Category: Breakfast, Yeasted breads
Cuisine: Swedish
Recipe in PDF format (print friendly)
- Makes 40 buns
- Prep time: 40min
- Cook time: 10min
- Total time: 50min + dough rising time
- Difficulty: Intermediate
Ingredients
- 200g butter
- 1g saffron
- 300ml milk
- 200ml heavy cream
- 14g (2 sachets) dried yeast (or 50g fresh yeast)
- 1 large egg
- 180g sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1kg flour
- 1 lightly beaten egg, for egg wash
- raisins for decoration
Directions
Melt the butter, add saffron, milk, and cream. Heat the mixture until barely warm to the touch. Put the dried yeast into a large mixing bowl. If using fresh yeast, crumble it into a bowl. Add some of the liquid to the yeast and stir until it has dissolved, then add the rest of the liquid. Add the egg, sugar, and salt and stir until the egg is incorporated. Add most of the flour (keep some for later) and work into a smooth dough. It should still be a little bit sticky but manageable. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and let it rise for 45-60 minutes. It should double in size. When the dough has risen, work in the remaining flour if needed. Divide the dough into 40 equal portions and roll each one into a snake using the palms of your hands. Curl the ends in opposite directions, forming an "S" with spirals at each end. Put the buns onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Leave some space between them as they will rise even more. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 30-45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 250°C. Brush each bun with a beaten egg and put two raisins in the centers of "S" spirals. Bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on their size. They are best eaten on the same day. If you have any leftovers, you can easily freeze them.
Additional images
