St. Lucia Saffron 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. Young girls are dressed in white robes with a red sash, with one girl selected as “Lucia” who wears a crown of lit candles (or battery powered ones), the others carrying a single candle. Processions with singing and revelry abound.

At home, the eldest girl dresses up in robe, sash, and candle crown, and delivers coffee and lussekatter, or S shaped saffron buns to her parents for breakfast.

This was all explained to me the other day by a young Swedish woman named Lisa Persson in college here in Sacramento, a long way from home. She spoke of these saffron buns with such nostalgia, I just had to make some.

The rolls are lightly sweet, buttery, and vibrant yellow from the saffron-infused dough. The raisins in the “eyes” of the rolls give them just a little extra sweetness when you bite into them.

Through my research I’ve seen many complaints that lussekatter can be dry or dense. The rolls I present to you here are neither; I limit the amount of sugar and fat in the recipe, the overuse of which can contribute to making yeasted breads dense.

Of course the rolls are best freshly baked. I would recommend making the dough the night before, refrigerating it over night, and then baking the rolls in the morning. Otherwise, the rolls do reheat very well with just a few seconds in the microwave. Enjoy! (p.s. this is a delightful video on the tradition of Swedish Lucia)

St. Lucia Saffron Buns Recipe

This recipe makes 12 to 14 good sized buns. You can easily double the recipe. Note the cardamom is optional. I've made these buns with and without a little cardamom and I  prefer them with. I'm guessing it's more traditional without.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk (175 ml)
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 teaspoon plus 1/4 cup (50 g) white, granulated sugar
• One 1/4-ounce packet active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package to make sure it's still good!)
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups (490 g to 570 g) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• The seeds from 3 cardamom pods, ground (optional)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 4 Tbsp, 56 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup of sour cream (or quark if available)
• 2 large eggs
• Raisins

Glaze

• 1 egg, beaten

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