I'm baaaaack! And, Swedish Christmas Part 1: Lussekatter!

Hi hello hallå hej hei hola bonjour and welcome back to my blog!  I apologize for the hiatus but I assure you that I have been cooking just as much as ever.

In the time since I wrote my last food blog post (May 2012, embarrassingly enough..), I graduated from university, got a proper job, GOT A STUNNING KITCHENAID MIXER, spent the entire summer in my beloved Sweden, hit all 5 Nordic countries in the span of 8 weeks, and have now been a working girl for a solid 5 months. That came out wrong.  I have been an employed female for 5 months.

Last year I started a tradition of throwing a Christmas party at my apartment with all of the traditional dishes on a Swedish julbord, or Christmas buffet.  I even went as far as making the most difficult cake in the history of the world, the prinsesstårta.  Its not traditionally eaten at Christmastime but I wanted a show stopping dessert and I sure made one!  It is a sponge cake brushed with a layer of raspberry jam, topped with homemade pastry cream and topped off with mountains of fresh whipped cream.  The whole thing is covered in a layer of thin green marzipan and adorned with a pink rose.  It is the perfect slice of cake.

The actual process of creating the prinsesstårta is documented photo by photo in my records and I'll blog about it later on.  For now I will simply leave you with a photo of my masterpiece:

This year, after spending so much time in Uppsala this summer and missing the delightful Swedish food, I was especially excited to throw my Swedish Christmas party again.  I perfected my recipe for Lussekatter (or Lucia buns) and made a double batch of Kanelbullar (cinnamon rolls) to share with my Svenska Skolan classmates the next day.  The apartment was decked out in silver and gold, our little modest Christmas tree was twinkling, and I had some of my best friends and family around me.  It was a spectacular evening.

But enough chat, let's get to the food.

As I've already blogged about cinnamon rolls, I thought it would be appropriate to share the recipe for Lussekatter as most Americans have never heard of them.  Its a shame, really, as these little soft and fluffy buns are a little sweet and a little savory, and are perfect with a cup of coffee or just on their own if you are like me and can't wait to pop one in your mouth as they come out of the oven.  

Every year on December 13th, Swedes celebrate Luciadagen, or St. Lucia Day.  You can read more about the cultural significance of day event here and watch the little videos if you'd like!  

As for Lussekatter, here's what you will need:

-1 1/2 sticks of melted butter (3/4 c.)

-1 3/4 c. warm milk (any %, but whole milk makes them super rich!)

-1/2 tsp. saffron threads, broken up in your hand

-2 blocks of FRESH yeast if you can find it! (2 of the 0.6 gram blocks)

-1/2 to 2/3 c. of sugar (depending upon how sweet you like your lussekatter)

-good pinch of salt

-1 egg, beaten

-5 or 6 cups AP flour (whole wheat works beautifully here)

-1 egg (for eggwash)

-raisins for decorating!

Warm the butter and milk on the stove until it is finger warm.  This means it is quite warm to the touch but not hot or else it will kill the yeast.  When this is warm, put it in a bowl or stand mixer and add the 1/2 tsp. of saffron threads.  This is the KEY ingredient in lussekatter-- its what gives them their beautiful golden color and the distinctive delicious flavor.  Let it steep in the milk and butter mixture for a minute or two until the liquid turns bright yellow.  Next, crumble in the two cakes of fresh yeast.  It is found in the refrigerated section and looks like this if you've never worked with it before:

Next add the salt, sugar, and beaten egg, and mix with the dough hook attachment (or a spoon) for a few minutes while the yeast starts to bubble.  Then slowly add the first 4 cups of flour a little at a time, adding the 5th if the dough is still too wet.  When the dough starts to pull away from the bowl and come together, stop adding flour and turn off the mixer.  I like to take my dough out when its still quite sticky because I can always add flour when I knead it, but its hard to correct too much flour from the beginning.  Let the dough rise for 1 hour in a warm place.

After the hour, take the dough out of the mixer, put it on a clean and floured surface, and knead for a few minutes until it forms a soft dough ball. 

Once it is soft and pliable, roll the dough out to about 1/2 of an inch thick.  

Now comes the fun part-- rolling the dough in to the classic lussekatter shape!  They usually look like curled "S" shapes with raisins in each of the curls.  You can shape the dough this way by cutting 10-12 inch strips of dough and rolling the ends in the opposite directions to make the "S" as follows:

Do this with all of the remaining dough and place the rolled lussekatter on to a greased baking sheet.  They won't spread too much when they bake, so you can place them relatively close together.  They will need to do their final rest and rise on the baking sheet for another 45 minutes, covered with a tea towel.  Here they are, the little beauties, ready for a rest:

The last step is to brush them with eggwash (a beaten egg mixed with a tiny bit of water or milk) and place the obligatory raisin in each of the curls.  Most recipes call for a very high oven temperature and a short cooking time for these buns, but be very careful because the bottoms can burn.  I like setting my oven to 400ºF and baking them for around 15-20 minutes, checking them after 15.  They should be just puffed slightly and golden brown on the top, but they don't require a long stay in the oven.  When in doubt, take them out early and taste one. No one likes a dry Lucia bun.

Here's they are, ready for their close-up!

Stay tuned for the next post with a quick refresher on kanelbullar (cinnamon buns) and a closer look at this year's Julbord complete with a Christmas ham and a beautiful almond pound cake!  

Vi ses!