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Norwegian saffron buns

Norwegian saffron buns or "lussekatter" in Norwegian is made for the celebration of St. Lucy's day the 13. of December. These buns are spiced with real saffron and decorated with sultana raisins.
Prep Time45 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Resting time3 hrs
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Norwegian
Keyword: lusskatter, norwegian baking recipes, Norwegian saffron buns
Servings: 15 buns

Equipment

  • standing mixer
  • Bowl
  • spatula
  • measure cup
  • Kitchen scale
  • Kitchen towel
  • Rolling pin

Ingredients

Saffron preparation

  • 0,5 gr Saffron
  • 1 tbsp Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Aquavit
  • 0,5 dl Full fat milk

Dough

  • 1 kg Wheat flour
  • 1 gr Fresh Yeast
  • 150 gr Sugar
  • 15 gr Salt
  • 4,5 dl Full fat milk
  • 1 large Egg
  • 150 gr Butter Room temperature

Decoration

  • 1 handful Raisins Sultana
  • 1 Egg

Instructions

  • Take the butter out of the fridge and leave it to soften in a warm place

Saffron preparation

  • Bash the saffron in a pestle mortar together with 1 tbsp sugar
  • Add 2 tbsp of aquavit stir and let it sit while heating 0.5 dl of milk in a kettle
  • Remove the milk from the heat and add the saffron, sugar, and aquavit. Leave to rest for 30 minutes

Dough

  • Add warm water to the raisins and leave to rest
  • Add all ingredients except the butter to the standing mixer
  • Knead on low speed for 15 minutes
  • Add the butter in smaller pieces while kneading for another 15 minutes
  • Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and leave to rest for 1,5 hours
  • Place the dough on a lightly flour-dusted working surface
  • Roll out the dough to a 5 mm thick rectangle about 50 cm in length
  • Use a dough divider with parallel blades or a pizza slicer and a ruler to cut 2 cm stripes
  • Roll the dough stripes halfway into the center, flip over and roll in the opposite direction. This will leave you with an S-shaped bun
  • Set the oven to 175 degrees Celcius
  • Place the buns onto baking trays and leave to rest for 1 hour
  • Drain the water from the raisins
  • Decorate the center of the bun spirals with sultana raisins

Baking

  • Bake one tray at the time for 20 minutes
  • Brush each bun with egg right after coming out of the oven
  • Leave to cool on a cooling rack