St. Lucia Bread

It's a long story...

I have a Steely Dan Internet friend who lives in Sweden and around the Christmas season he posted a photo of his niece's cat looking out his window, with wide dark eyes. So in Swedish he posted Lussekatt?
I had no idea what that meant and though he tried to explain that it made little sense in Swedish and none in English, I put the word into Google and found out that the word stood for St. Lucia Bread, which are traditionally shaped like eyes. Thus, the photo meant that the cat had Lucy's Eyes. Ah, I said to myself! I think I have it!


While on my mission, I found a really interesting recipe for Lussekatter and they looked so good that rather then wait for next December 13th, I baked them last Saturday.

I expected them to be sweet, but compared to American desserts, they are not but they have grown on me and I like them a lot.

A quick baking note. I don't know why this is, but I didn't need anywhere near 6 1/2 cups of flour. 4 was plenty.


Here is the recipe, courtesy of About.com

St Lucia Buns (Lussekatter)

St. Lucia buns may be made ahead of time, frozen, and quickly reheated in the microwave before serving.
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1 cup melted butter
* 1/2 tsp. saffron threads, finely crumbled (or 1 tsp. powdered saffron)
* 1 cup milk
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 tsp. salt
* 2 pkg. dry active yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
* 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 eggs, well-beaten, plus one egg white
* raisins or currants to decorate

Preparation:

Crumble saffron threads into melted butter. Let sit 30 minutes to an hour (this intensifies the saffron flavor).

Heat milk to a light boil, turning off heat when it reaches the scalding point (with small bubbles across the top). Stir in melted butter, sugar, and salt. Pour mixture into mixing bowl and allow to cool until “finger-warm” (still quite warm, but just cool enough to touch). Stir in yeast and let sit for 10 minutes.

Mix 3 1/2 cups flour into liquid. Stir in two well-beaten eggs. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough (just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You don't want to add too much flour).

Transfer dough to a large greased bowl and turn to coat all sides. Cover with a clean towel and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down risen dough. Lightly knead two or three times on a floured surface. Pinch off small handfuls of dough (about the size of a racquetball) and roll into "snakes." Shape snakes into "S"-shaped buns or other desired shapes (please see my photo gallery of Lucia buns for traditional examples). Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover with the towel again, and allow to rise until doubled (about an hour).

Decorate buns with raisins, brush with egg white, and bake in preheated 375º oven about 15 minutes, just until brown. Yield: 20 St. Lucia Buns ("Lussekatter")