In the Swedish history the saffron bun, or lussekatten, is almost a 1,000 years old. According to Nordic mythology lussekatten is a representation of the Goddess Freja’s favorite cat.
The buns were also used to appease the powers of the Sun when profound darkness ruled around Saint Lucy’s Day during midwinter.
The saffron bun’s main ingredient is saffron, the red-yellow spice that gives the bun its characteristic color and flavor. Saffron itself is the world’s most expensive spice, but fortunately only a small amount is needed when baking the buns.
The buns most traditional shape is a reversed ’S’ decorated with raisins. From the beginning they were eaten on Saint Lucy’s Day, December 13th, but nowadays they are seen in bakeries already by the first Advent Sunday or even earlier.
Recipe
Swedish Saffron Buns (lussekatter)
Saffron, 2 bags (1 g)
Salt, ½ a teaspoon
200 g butter
5 dl milk
1.5 dl white sugar
50 g baker’s yeast
1 egg
1,000 g all-purpose flour (17 dl)
Decoration
1 egg
Raisins
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 200 oC.
2. Crush the saffron together with the salt in a mortar.
3. Melt the butter in a pan, add milk and sugar and warm the mixture to 37 oC (lukewarm).
4. Divide the yeast finely in a bowl. Pour some of the milk-mixture over the yeast. Stir until the yeast is dissolved.
5. Add the rest of the milk-mixture, the saffron-salt mixture and most of the flour. Save some flour for kneading. Mix into a smooth dough. Cover with a piece of cloth and let it rise for 45 minutes.
6. Knead the dough on a floured (wooden) cutting board. Divide the dough into two parts.
7. Roll finger thick lengths about 20 cm long. Roll the ends in opposite directions to create the reversed ’S’ shape. Put the buns on a baking tray with bakerypaper. Cover with a piece of cloth and let rise for about 30 minutes.
8. Whip the egg and paint the buns with the mixture and press a couple of raisins into the dough. Bake the buns in the oven for 6-8 minutes until golden brownish yellow.
text: Lars Jansson
