Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Saffron Buns/ Lussekatter

Using saffron in sweet buns is common in Sweden and during advent and christmas, very very common. The lussekatt is a sweet saffron bun ment to be eaten at St:Lucia Day on December 13th. 




There are many different old reasons why the swedish people celebrate this day, dating back to before christianity. All from the winter solstice and the re-birth of the sun to Lussinatta, the Lussi Night. When "Lussi", a female being with evil traits, like a female demon or witch, was riding through the air with her followers, called Lussiferda
Look here for more interesting information.




You will need: (Pre-heat oven to 250C / 480F)
  • 150g Dairy Free Margarine
  • 500 ml Vegan Milk (+ extra for brushing)
  • 50g Fresh Yeast (or dry yeast equal to 50g, read on packet)
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 1½ dl (½cup) Sugar
  • 1g of Saffron (powder)
  • 1.3 L Plain Flour (13 dl)
  • Raisins/ Sultanas

  1. Melt your margarine and add your milk to it. Heat until finger warm with the saffron (37C / 98F)
  2. Dissolve the yeast with the milk/margarine liquid in a big bowl. Add salt, sugar and around 2/3 of the plain flour.
  3. Work the dough until shiny and add more of the flour. Saving 1-2dl (½-3/4cup) for the rolling of the dough later on. 
  4. Sprinkle with flour and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Leave to rise in room temperature with out a drag until the dough has doubled in size. (approx. 45-60min)
  5. Once your dough has risen, put it on a floured work bench and cut into 30-40 pieces.
  6. Roll each piece into a sausage shape as thick as a finger and shape into the classic lussekatt-shape. (or shape of your choice, but remember that size will effect how long it has to be baked.)
  7. Place evenly on oven trays with baking paper and leave to rise until they almost double in size.
  8. Brush with dairy free milk and gently push a raisin/sultana in each swirl on the buns.
  9. Bake each tray in the middle of the pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes. Until just golden.
  10. Enjoy your Swedish Saffron Buns.





17 comments:

  1. Oh, Love, remember when my mom and I made those!

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  2. Did you like them? Got scandinavian i your blood? I love them, so nice :)

    //Emma @The Vegan Swedes

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  3. What type of Vegan milk, specifically? I know I would probably use plain almond or plain rice milk, but that's just off the top of my head.

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  4. Patricia: Yes use the dairy-free milk of your choice...almond, rice, soy or oat :) I used Alpro Soya Natural Milk.
    Have fun baking.

    //Emma @The Vegan Swedes

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  5. Thanks so much for the recipe; we made these & they turned out absolutely fantastic & delicious, & no one could even tell that they are vegan! So tasty! & love your website, so many intriguing & great ideas/recipes! And it's so straightforward!

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  6. Thank you so much Hejjjj :) They are very simple and tasy, happy you liked them. Thanks for the feed back too.

    Emma @The Vegan Swedes

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  7. These look delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe, I must give it a try. I just "pinned" the pretty picture of them in the tin
    http://pinterest.com/pin/166985098655235436/

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    1. Thank you CC.
      Let me know if you try them out. Very very tasty ;)

      //Emma @the vegan swedes

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  8. Thank you for sharing the recipe, my old flatmate was Swedish and made this for Christmas one year. Since then i've been looking for a vegan recipe! I made them the other day and they came out well - only i had the wrong measurement for the flour i think so i just had to keep adding until the dough consistency looked right. Do you know how many cups of flour 1.3L is? Thank you :)

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    1. 1.3L is just under 5 1/2 Cups. How much did you use. Good you added more to make them turn out good anyways. Thanks for reading the blog :)

      //Emma @The Vegan Swedes

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. What oven temperature do you bake them?

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    1. 250C - it says at the top of the ingredient list :) Happy baking!

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  11. I made these yesterday, they turned out excellent! I always knead in the butter (or any fats) at the very end, to ensure the development of gluten, so they don't get too dense. Wonderful recipe, will definitely use this again! Served to my non-vegan co-workers, and everyone loved them (at least to my face, haha). Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!

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    1. We made all of these and my friends are not vegan but they were gone in 2 days flat!

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  12. I tried making these yesterday and they turned out really well. I can taste the difference w/o egg, but, it's good. The only thing I haven't figured out is how to get a really satisfying golden color that you get from an egg wash. I tried washing with coconut cream, water, and then sugar water. None of them really seemed to do anything. I might try to do a higher proportion of sugar in the water next time but wondered have you found anything that works?

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  13. I made these last year when I was visiting my best friend in Sweden and they were fabulous! I had no problem achieving the golden-brown color without any washes - Idk if it was something about their oven perhaps? I plan on making these for our families here in the US this Christmas - thank you so much!

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