Lussekat « Somewhere in the world today…

St Lucia buns (Lussekat), for St Lucia's day

These buns are traditionally made in Scandinavia on 13th December (St Lucia’s day) and are served for breakfast (after having stayed awake all night) by the eldest daughter of the family who dresses in white and wears candles on her head!

Makes 24 buns

Ingredients

2 x 7g packets dry yeast
100ml lukewarm water
200ml milk
100g sugar
100g butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
750g plain flour
48 raisins

For the glaze:

Butter, softened
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons sugar

Preparation

Take the eggs and butter out of the fridge so they are not too cold while you bring the milk to the boil and allow to cool to a lukewarm temperature.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, sugar, butter, 2 eggs, cardamom, salt and saffron, blend until smooth.
Add the flour a little at a time and continue blending until the blender starts to struggle. Switch to a spoon and continue to add the flour until it becomes doughy, then use your hands to mix in enough of the remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.
Turn the dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
Place the dough in a greased bowl and turn it over, greased side up. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for one and a half to two hours, or until it has doubled in size.
Punch the dough down and divide into 4 equal parts. Cut each part into 6 pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth rope, 10-12″ long. Shape each rope into an S-shape and coil the ends in on themselves. Place on greased baking sheets and brush the tops lightly with butter. Place a raisin in the middle of each coil. Let them rise again somewhere warm until doubled in size, about 35-40 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180C (less for fan assisted). Mix 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water and brush the buns with mixture. Sprinkle with the sugar. Bake until golden-brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Drink

Glogg! (mulled wine)

Make a night of it

Pop some Abba on the sound system and light up your all night party with these beautiful St Lucia inspired candle holders. Find out more about St Lucia’s day and have your own celebration. We’ve even found you some fab Scandinavian design kitchenware to complete the scene. How about some oven gloves so you don’t burn your hands, and a Scandinavian design tray to serve your buns on!