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Swedish saffron Buns

These Swedish saffron buns or "Lussebullar" are devoured during Lucia and Christmas in Sweden. Bake them and you will love them!

These can be made in many different ways. Different shapes and filling create very different food-experiences. For example we have the classic twisted saffron bun with an almond filling that is my brother Alex's favourite. Whilst my mon enjoys the "lussekatt" which have no filling, but raisins, and are shaped like an S.

Test different option with the same dough and see what you prefer!

Ingredients

Dough

  • Butter (150 g)
  • Milk (5 dl)
  • Fresh yeast (1 cube)
  • Sugar (2 dl)
  • Salt (2 tsp)
  • Saffron (0,5-1 g (depending on taste))
  • Kesella(kvarg or smooth cottage cheese) (2 dl)
  • Flour (ca 14 dl)

Filling & toppings

  • Raisins (2 dl (maybe...))
  • Butter (80 g)
  • Almond paste (mandelmassa) (200 g)
  • Cardamon (2 tsp)
  • Salt (2 tsp)
  • Egg (1)

Instructions

The dough:

  1. Melt the butter on the stove and when melted, remove from heat and add in the milk. It should at this point be ca 37°C.
  2. Crumble the yeast and add 0,5 dl of sugar and watch the yeast slowly melt. When melted add the milk+butter mixture.
  3. Take a morter and add the saffron and some of the sugar to grid it. This is to release more of the flavour.
  4. Add the saffron-sugar and kesella ( smooth cottage cheese ) to the mixture alongside the rest of the sugar and the salt.
  5. Add in flour little by little, being careful not to add too much (danger of dry buns). If you slap the dough it should look like small stars on your skin.
  6. if you want raisins in the dough this is where you add them, either whole or chopped into smaller pieces (that's what I prefer)
  7. Let the dough rise for 50 minutes.

With filling:

  1. Time for the filling: we simply mix the butter with the almond paste(mandelmassa) and some salt and cardamon, preferably with an electric mixer, to create fluffy spreadable filling.
  2. Roll out the dough to 0,5-1 cm thickness and spread the filling out to the corners.
  3. For the shaping: fold over half and cut into strips ca 2 cm wide. cut a slit along the middle and twist. Twist up the strip to a rose-shape and secure the end under the bun.

Without filling:

  1. Roll out the dough to ca 2 cm thickness.
  2. Cut stripes ca 1-2 cm wide.
  3. Roll the stripe as seen in the sketch to the right.
  4. Add raisins to the two center points.

The cooking:

  1. Preheat oven to 210°C
  2. Let rise on baking-sheets under a towel for 40 min.
  3. Beat up the egg with 1 Tbsp of water.
  4. Brush the buns with the egg wash and add optional toppings.
  5. Bake for ca 10-12 minutes in the middle of the oven or until golden brown.
  6. Freeze what you don't eat to make them last and keep the moisture. they are easily thawed in 30 seconds in the microwave.