Christmas recipes: Lussekatter, Swedish saffron buns.

Growing up with a Swedish mother, gravlax, pickled herring and meatballs were staples of my diet. To this day, food is one of the ways I stay connected to my Swedish culture, and you’ll often find me making Swedish pancakes for brunch on Sunday morning.

More than anything, I love baking Swedish pastries. Kanelbullar (cinnamon rolls), Semlor (for lent) and my favorites: Lussekatter. Every year Swedes celebrate Santa Lucia on December 13th. It’s a beautiful celebration, and is traditionally accompanied by Glögg (mulled wine) and Lussekatter (saffron buns).

Below is my recipe, good for 32 buns.

Ingredients

• 1.75 oz yeast
• 5.3 oz butter
• 0.02 oz saffron
• 0.85 cups sugar
• 2.1 cups milk
• 8.8 0z cottage cheese (1%)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 0.6 cups raisins
• 6.5–7 cups flour

Instructions

Melt the butter on low heat. Break up the saffron with a little of the sugar in a mortar, and stir it into the melted butter. Add the milk, heat to body temperature (no more!) and dissolve the yeast in the mix.

Add the cottage cheese, sugar, salt, raisins and one of the eggs. Work in most of the flour and knead the dough until smooth (about 5 minutes in the machine or 10 minutes by hand). Sprinkle a little flour over the dough and let it rise under a cloth for one hour.

Put the dough on floured work surface and knead in any remaining flour. Shape the dough into buns. Place them on baking trays lined with parchment paper and let them rise under a cloth for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush the buns with a beaten egg and bake in the oven for 8–10 minutes until golden. Let cool on a rack covered with a cloth.

Enjoy!

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