Friday 11 December 2015

Baking Lussebullar

Advent, day 13



(No Advent and no Lucia celebration without Lussebullar. 
Ok, but how will that fit the word Angel into this?
Hmm .. let me think..
Ok, we can say this:
They are so good that, people who have eaten Lussebullar usually say:
"angelic good".
Smile ..
(These are my Lussebullar of last year.)




Saffron buns

Ingredients (25 buns)

1 g (1/28 oz) saffron threads
50 g (2 oz) yeast
200 g (7 oz) sugar
300 ml (1½ cup) milk
1 egg
150–200 g (5–7 oz) butter
1 tsp salt
750 g (26 oz) flour
100 g (3½ oz) raisins
Glaze:
1 egg
2 tbs water

Preparation

To make ‘Lucia cats’ (lussekatter), grind the saffron along with a cube of sugar, using a pounder and pestle. (For those who think ahead: drip a little cognac on top, and let rest a few days.) Crumble the yeast into a bowl and stir in a few tablespoons of milk. Melt the butter and pour on the milk.
Add the rest of the ingredients, except the raisins, and knead the dough in a dough mixer for 10 minutes. Carefully mix in most of the raisins, cover the dough and let it rise for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Divide the dough into 25 pieces and roll the buns in an oblong shape, about 10 cm (4 in) long. Cover them and let rest for 10 minutes, then roll them twice as long and twist the ends of each bun in opposite directions to form a sort of figure 8. Put one raisin in the middle of each half figure 8.
Place on a greased baking sheet and let rise under a towel for about 90 minutes, or until the buns have doubled in size. Bake in the oven (220°C/425°F) for 5 minutes. Beat together the egg and water, brush the mixture on the buns. Allow to cool on the baking sheet,