Traditional saffron buns or St. Lucian buns

These number 8 saffron buns are traditional buns from Sweden. You may know them by St. Lucia Scones , or have ever heard the word Lusskatter. What is certain is that they are some of the most aromatic buns, and that I will love it if you dare to prepare them.

As today December 13 is the day of Saint Lucia, we wanted to pay you this little tribute and bring you the recipe, because they are delicious sweets, perfect all year round but I think they can accompany Sunday breakfasts very well and, without a doubt, the time of coffee and tea after Christmas lunch. In fact, the most popular and traditional thing is to eat it at this time of year.

As I was saying, they are known by many names, including lussekatt, lussebulle, saffranskruse, dyvelkatter, etc., and in all cases they refer to their shape, similar to a cat's tail .

Apart from their shape and aroma, they are characteristic for being accompanied, in each hole at the ends, by a raisin that gives them the final touch.

For the recipe you will need an oven tray that takes temperature and cooks them quickly. To do this, you can opt for a perforated tray or the Le Creuset non-stick cookie and tart tray , which offers an ideal size and qualities.

Le Creuset Non-Stick Flat Square Tray and Le Creuset Mug

Ingredients

• 125 ml of whole milk
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 7 g fast-acting yeast
• 0.5g saffron
• 60 g quark cheese
• 90 g cane sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 250 g self-rising flour
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 24 raisins

Preparation

1. In a saucepan, heat the milk a little and add the butter to it so that it melts.
2. Let it cool down and then add the yeast. Stir until dissolved.
3. Crush the saffron with a mortar to release its aroma and add it to the liquid until it dissolves (in the absence of a mortar, do it with a food processor ).
4. Once dissolved, add the quark, sugar and salt, and mix well.
5. Add the flour and knead until it no longer sticks to the bowl or table, depending on whether you are kneading by hand or machine.
6. Knead for about ten minutes until you get a soft, soft dough (make sure you don't add too much flour or else the buns will be very dry).
7. Let the dough rest in a bowl, covered by a damp cloth, for about 45 minutes.
8. Once it has rested, throw it on a floured table and work it a little before dividing it into twelve pieces . Roll each piece to create a kind of 12-inch sausages and form the buns in the shape of an "S", turning one end towards the center and then repeating the operation in the opposite direction with the other half of the strip.
9. Put them on the greased non-stick baking tray and let the dough rest again for another 45 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 225ºC.
11. Carefully brush the buns with lightly beaten egg. You can use the mini Le Creuset pastry brush and put a raisin in the center of each end of the buns.
12. Bake in the center of the oven for 7-10 minutes, until golden.

Happy Saint Lucia Day!