Lussekatter, Swedish saffron buns (VIDEO)
Traditional Swedish saffron bun called Lussekatter (named after Lucia cats) is the ultimate saffron-infused fluffy yeasted brioche to bake before the holidays! They are crazy moist and delicious, and primarily made for St. Lucia Day (December 13th) but enjoyed throughout November and December in Sweden.
Servings: 14 buns
Calories: 133kcal
Ingredients
Dough
- 110 g Whole milk lukewarm
- 1 teaspoon Saffron threads exact quantity greatly depends on the quality of the saffron
- 1 tablespoon Liquid to infuse the saffron can be warm milk or rum
- 70 g Granulated sugar increase sugar quantity if prefer it sweeter
- 12,5 g Fresh yeast Can be substituted with dry yeast, check your local brand for exact measurement
- 1 Egg yolk room temperature
- 1 Egg room temperature
- 250 g Bread flour High protein content flour. Can be substituted with All purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 80 g Unsalted butter room temperature, soft
- 1 egg for egg wash before baking
- melted butter to brush the freshly baked buns
Instructions
Assembling the dough and first proofing
- Grind your saffron threads in a small mortar then infuse it with warm milk or rum for 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes, mix half of the sugar with lukewarm milk then sprinkle yeast on top. Make sure your kitchen is nice and warm, and in 10 minutes yeast should foam
- Mix in dry ingredients; bread flour, rest of the sugar, salt and start kneading until the dough comes together
- Slowly start to add in room temp (soft) butter chunks by piece. Knead the dough for another 10 minutes on medium high speed until dough becomes elastic and shiny and not sticky any longer
- Move the dough into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest and rise in the fridge overnight for 12 hours or at room temperature for 1-2hour
Shaping and second proofing
- Roll the dough on a silicone baking mat into a rectangle of 32x21 cm / 12.5x8 inches. Alternatively, roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface
- If at any point the dough is too warm and sticky, chill it instead of adding more flour
- Pop the rolled out dough into the freezer to chill for 3-5 minutes before cutting. Once the dough is nicely chilled slice it up from the shorter end using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. You will be able to make 14 slices, so one slice will be 21cm / 8 inch long and 2.3cm / 0.9 inch wide
- Grab one of the slices, gently pull it to about 30cm / 12 inches with your hands, then start rolling it up tightly from one side, then on the other side as well into an S shape
- Continue with shaping the rest of the dough. Place each S shape dough onto parchment paper leaving enough space in between them as they rill rise
- Now onto second proofing. Cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let them about double in size. This will take anywhere between 1-2hour depending on the temperature of your kitchen
- Once you are happy with the second rise, whisk one egg with a splash of water and apply egg wash very gently using a brush. Finally, press 1 raisin or dried cranberry on each side of the S shape dough and bake!
- During the end of the second rise pre-heat your oven to 190C / 374F, then once bun dough has nicely risen, place it into the oven, lower the temp to 180C / 356F and bake for about 12 minutes.
- The buns should get golden brown and the bottom should be well baked. Pleaes focus on texture, as opposed to baking it exactly for 12 minutes as you might need slightly more or less time depending on the oven
- Melt a small amount of butter and brush the buns while they are hot
- Serve the buns shortly after they are baked, store any leftover in air tight container
Video
Notes
INGREDIENT NOTES
- Use always unsalted butter in baking, in this Lussekatter recipe butter needs to be at room temperature so soft enough to be able to knead into the dough
- Fresh or Dried yeast can be both used. My instant dried yeast pack says that 25g fresh yeast equals 7 g dried. I use 12,5 g fresh yeast to make this recipe that is equal to 3,5 g dried yeast (approx. 1 teaspoon). Please check your local brand and calculate your yeast need accordingly
- Use milk and egg at room temperature in order for the ingredients to properly emulsify
- Since this saffron bun is effectively a sweet bread use high protein content bread flour
- Try to make some investigation regarding saffron and purchase the best possible quality you can access
- For activating the yeast (whether it is dried or fresh), make sure that the milk is lukewarm and your kitchen is also nice and warm
- For "activating " the saffron, grind it yourself in a small mortar and infuse it in some liquid eg. warm milk or rum
- You will knead the dough for about 10 minutes in a stand mixer. The dough is ready when it is shiny, elastic and does not stick to your fingers any longer. Do not add more flour to the dough. If it sticks too much, continue kneading
- Overnight proofing is recommended for the best results, however, room temperature proofing can work too if you are in a rush. Please note that it is much easier to handle (roll, shape) a dough that is risen in chilled environment
- During the rolling and shaping process try to work with chilled dough
- Second proofing is necessary for the perfect rise = fluffy texture
- Do not skip the butter wash at the end. It will make your bun super shiny
Nutrition
Calories: 133kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 56mg | Potassium: 45mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 208IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg
