Name: Swedish Saffron Buns Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 95 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 20
Cuisine: swedish
Ingredients: 50 g fresh yeast; 1 g saffron threads; 400 ml milk; 100 ml thickened cream; 1 egg lightly beaten; 1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 tsp salt; 200 g butter; 6 cups plain flour; 1 cup plain flour *extra; 1 egg; 3 tbs milk; 1 cup raisins *to decorate

by swaussie Last updated on 07/09/2019

13th December is Saint Lucia Day, which means celebrations are held across Sweden with candles, music, mulled wine, gingerbread cookies and these special Lucia buns - lovely, glazed, yeasty saffron buns decorated with raisins. - swaussie

Ingredients

50 g fresh yeast
1 g saffron threads
400 ml milk
100 ml thickened cream
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
200 g butter
6 cups plain flour
1 cup plain flour *extra

Glaze

1 egg
3 tbs milk
1 cup raisins *to decorate

Method

Step 1

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add milk and cream and heat until lukewarm.
Step 2

Meanwhile, crumble yeast into a bowl. Pour over the heated butter and milk mixture.
Step 3

Add salt, saffron, egg and sugar and then slowly add most of the flour, stirring all of the time to create a soft, smooth and silky dough that is still a little sticky.
Step 4

Cover and leave the dough in a warm place for at least 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
Step 5

Punch down and then form into the buns by dividing the dough into 5 pieces and then divide each piece again into 8 pieces.
Step 6

Make a rope of dough approximately 20 cm long and then form it into an S shape, tucking in the ends.
Step 7

Lay dough on a lined baking tray and press raisins into the curls of the S.
Step 8

Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise again until double in size, about 30 minutes.
Step 9

Preheat the oven to 225C.
Step 10

Glaze: Beat egg with milk.
Step 11

Brush the tops of the buns with glaze just prior to baking.
Step 12

Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Step 13

Cool on a rack under a clean cloth.

Equipment

1 saucepan
1 bowl
1 baking tray
1 pastry brush
1 wire rack

Recipe Notes

from Australia’s Best Recipes team

You may not need to add all of the flour. As with all saffron buns, they dry out quite easily, so they are best eaten on the day they are made. Alternatively, you can freeze them while still warm and take out what you need.

This makes a lot of buns, so feel free to halve the recipe if you just want a few.

In regards to the saffron, it comes in handy ½ g packets in Sweden. If you need to convert, our ½ gram packets equals 1 teaspoon whole, ½ teaspoon crumbled or ¼ teaspoon powdered saffron.

To make 40 large buns: Use 50g fresh yeast or 12g dry yeast, thickened cream (35-40% fat), butter or margarine and extra flour for kneading.