Lussekatt is a traditional Swedish saffron bun. The rich and sweet bread is made with cardamom, raisins, almonds, and saffron. Lussekatt is traditionally served on St Lucia Day (December 13) but they are also perfect for Christmas or any other special occasion.
Lussekatt Origin
In Sweden, Lussekatter is traditionally eaten on St. Lucia’s Day (December 13). The word Lussekatter comes from the name of Saint Lucia and her tradition of serving saffron buns to the poor. Historically, Swedish women would bake these saffron buns during Christmastime in honor of the saint who gave them away as gifts to others.
Lussekatter has become increasingly popular around the world and you can find this traditional pastry everywhere from Finland to Canada to Texas! Make sure you read about saffranspannkaka, another sweedish food made with saffron.
Types of Lussekatt
There are two types of lussekatt: Lussekatt, which is the Swedish word for saffron bun, and Lussekatter. The latter is a portmanteau that combines the words “lusse” (the name of the festival) and “katt,” which means cat in Swedish.
In Sweden, these buns can be found throughout December and January. They are golden brown on top with a white bottom, topped with saffron sprinkles or icing made from ground saffron threads. If you have ever tried Swedish cardamom bread or cinnamon rolls before then you will be familiar with this type of bun!
Lussekatt Vegan
This is a recipe for Lussekatter vegan. Lussekatter are saffron buns traditionally eaten on Saint Lucy’s Day in Sweden. In recent years, they have become popular as Christmas buns, too. They are usually made with saffron and topped with powdered sugar or icing sugar, but the taste is still great without any topping at all!
Lussekatt Buns
Lussekatter are a traditional Swedish pastry. The buns are made with saffron, cardamom and orange peel (If you are interested in sweets make sure you read about Dango Japanese dumplings too). They are traditionally eaten on St Lucia Day (December 13). Lussekatter is a popular food among children because of the colorful shape of the dough, which resembles candles for Christmas. The shape of these pastries has become so popular that it has been adopted by other cultures around the world as well.
These saffron buns are often served with coffee or tea in Sweden and Norway during December before Christmas Eve dinner begins at 4pm local time (when everyone goes home from work). You can double up the amount of pleasure by trying this mind blowing bun with a strong coffee made with a moka pot.
Lussekatter Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups (500 g) flour
- 1 packet dry yeast (7 g)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon lard or butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 3 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
Instruction:
Making the Dough
1. To begin, crumble the yeast into a large bowl large enough to hold all of the ingredients and allow the dough to double in size. Mix in the milk as you add it until the yeast is dissolved. Mix again after adding butter. Don’t worry if the butter doesn’t completely dissolve in the milk even if you try to smash it up a little.
2. Add the saffron, sugar, and alcohol mixture. After that, pour a small amount of water into the dough and swirl it around in the saffron container to ensure that all of the flavor is retained. Mix because the butter won’t be completely dissolved in the milk yet. Add the flour and mix. Mix in a small amount at a time until combined, then add more. Use a spoon or a dough hook-equipped electric mixer. Start mixing the dough with your hands when it becomes difficult to do so with a spoon.
Shaping the Pieces
3. Knead the dough for at least 10 more minutes after adding all of the flour. It ought to easily come off the sides of the bowl when it’s done. Cover and let rise for 60 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size. In the meantime, cover two oven trays with parchment paper and soak the raisins in water. The dough should have doubled in size and be elastic to the touch after about 60 minutes. Give it some more time if it hasn’t risen enough. Pour some flour onto a clean surface as soon as the dough has sufficiently risen.
4. Roll a small piece of dough out on a floured surface into a snake about 20 centimeters (8 inches) in length (one batch of this recipe should yield 40 buns). The next step is to grab each end and slowly turn it toward the other side of the dough on opposite sides.
Baking
5. Repeat until all of the lussekatts are cooked by placing them on one of the oven trays lined with parchment paper. Drain the raisins and place two of them in each lussekatt, one in the middle of each spiral. Cover and allow to rise for another 30 minutes, or until they are half the size.
6. Preheat the oven to 200° C/400° F in the interim. Before baking, your lussekatter should look like this. Golden brown after 8 minutes of baking in the middle of the oven. This might take more or less a minute, depending on your oven. After that, take the dish out of the oven, place it on a cooling rack or kitchen towel to cool, and then cover it with a kitchen towel to keep the moisture in. Repeat until all of the lussekatter has been baked!
Health Benefits of Lussekatt
Lussekatter (also known as Lussekatt or Lucia Buns) is a healthy food made from a sweet dough, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and traditionally served at Christmas time. The saffron gives it its distinctive bright yellow color. The name “Lussekatter” comes from the word lussa which means “to sprinkle”, referring to the saffron that is used in these pastries.
This particular type of bun can be traced back to Medieval times when they were served at weddings during weddings in Sweden and Finland in honor of Saint Lucy who did not want to marry a pagan king so she hid away in a dry well rather than marrying him.
Her brother who then negotiated her release eventually rescued her but because he wanted her back so badly. He agreed that she would marry another man if he found one who could walk through fire without getting burned!
The day after hearing this news St Lucy died suddenly due to extreme stress thus becoming an early Christian martyr. For refusing marriage with someone she did not love nor respect enough for her own personal well-being – hence why we celebrate this tradition around December 13th every year! Although most people know them as “Italian Tricolor Cookies” which use vanilla extract instead of cardamom. But those are actually quite different from these original Swedish pastries! There are many foods you can use saffron to make including Galinhada and Tahchin which we already made full recipe posts about, so make sure you give them a try.
Last Words
Lussekatter is a traditional Swedish bun made from soft dough and flavored with saffron, cardamom, almond paste and raisins. The buns are also decorated with a cross cut in the top to resemble a crown. This article was brought to you by Edge of the Globe’s Lifestyle. If you have any question make sure you share them in the comment section. Thank You
