I’d never heard of Lussekatter until a couple of days ago when someone on social media said that they were spending the day making them in preparation for St Lucia Day/St Lucy’s day. These pretty saffron buns are eaten in Scandinavia on 13th December to celebrate the Patron Saint of Light.
At one time, prior to calendar reforms, the 13th December coincided with the shortest day of the year. In parts of Europe the return of lighter days is certainly something to be celebrated. Young girls dress in white with red sashes, one is chosen as Lucia (distinguished by her crown of candles), and they parade through the streets singing. If you are interested to learn more, take a look at the video below!
These S shaped saffron buns are really satisfying to make and taste fantastic too. They are fluffy and light and have just a hint of sweetness. I guess you could add a little more sugar if you have a sweet tooth but I thought they were great just the way they are.
A lot of the recipes I found when researching them contained Quark, an ingredient that wasn’t available in any of the shops over here (I know, I looked). I improvised and used a mixture of sour cream and full fat milk. Quark is a dairy product made by heating soured cream until it curdles so I guess that the taste hasn’t altered too much with my changes. You will also notice that I used fresh yeast in this recipe. I do like working with fresh yeast but if you don’t and you prefer to use dry active yeast, just use half the amount (12 gms).
As for the shaping of Lussekatter (which is translated to Lucia Cats), it is suggested that they are shaped this way to signify a curled up cat, or a cats tail, or a devil cat with the raisins as the cats eyes! I don’t see it really but my dog Lola certainly seemed interested in trying one!
Lussekatter
Ingredients
For the buns
- 1/2 gram saffron
- 100 grams granulated sugar (1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp)
- 1 tablespoon vodka
- 25 grams fresh yeast
- 160 millilitres sour cream (2/3 cup)
- 80 millilitres milk (1/3 cup)
- 1 medium egg
- 100 grams softened salted butter (just under 1 stick)
- 450 grams all purpose flour (3 cups plus 3tbsp)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 38 raisins
For the egg wash
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon milk
Instructions
- Place the raisins in a small bowl and cover with warm water to plump up.
- Place the saffron threads, vodka and 1 tbsp of the sugar into a pestle and mortar and grind. Set aside.
- Break up the yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Place the sour cream and milk into a small saucepan and stir whilst heating the mixture until it reaches 37°C. Remove from the heat and pour this warm cream mixture over the yeast. Stir until the yeast has dissolved.
- Add the saffron mixture, remaining sugar and egg into the yeast mixture and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add half of the flour to the bowl and using the dough hook on your stand mixer, mix on a slow to medium speed until the the wet and dry ingredients combine.
- Add the salt and then add the softened butter bit by bit until the butter has been incorporated into the dough. Add the remaining flour and mix with your dough hook for 10 to 15 minutes. The dough should be sticky to the touch and elastic. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm dry place to rise for 60 - 90 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Once the dough has risen, deflate it by pressing it with your hands a couple of times. Take small balls of dough weighing 55 - 60g and using your hands roll them into 'snakes' measuring 12 - 14 inches. You may need to dust the work surface with a bit of flour before rolling these out but try not to use too much as this would dry out the rolls.
- Shape the dough snakes into 'S' shapes and place a raisin at the top and bottom of the roll (as seen in the picture). Place on two baking trays lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Leave some space between each roll as they will expand a bit. Cover the trays with tea towels and leave in a warm place for 1 hour to rise.
- Preheat the oven to 250°C / 230°C Fan / 480°F
- Whisk the egg with the milk. Brush the tops of the buns with egg wash. Place in the oven for 6 - 8 minutes, turning half way through, until the buns have turned golden brown.
- Remove the buns from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before eating.
- These buns freeze well. If you are freezing these lussekatter, let them cool under a tea towel first and then immediately place them in tupperware boxes or freezer bags and freeze. When you want to eat them, remove from the freezer and warm through in the oven.
- These rolls do dry out quickly (probably due to the saffron) but by warming them through they do tend to soften up nicely!
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