I am so sorry that my blog has been so quiet the past three weeks, I have been busy at work preparing for a long holiday, and just arrived back in Norway last Friday. It's been great to be back home with family and friends, and there is nothing like a cold Norwegian winter to get in the Christmas spirit. Like any country Norway has its unique Christmas traditions, and the 13th of December is no exception, as we celebrate Saint Lucia Day. It is a big thing when you are a kid, and across all schools and kindergardens in Norway it is celebrated through some form of procession with children dressed in white clothes, and the procession is headed by one girl wearing a crown of candles (or lights) whilst others hold only one single candle each. Needless to say that every young girl in Norway wants to be selected to wear the crown, and I am still disappointed that I was never picked:)
However, after the procession where you sing songs, you eat a sweet treat called 'Lussekatter'. I haven't had Lusekatter since I was quite young, but recalled that they tasted delicious, hence I thought it timely to bake them yesterday and share the recipe with you.
Preparation time: 90 minutes
Bakes: Approximately 25 Lusekatter
Ingredients:
200g butter
500ml milk
50g yeast
250g saffron
1 teaspoon of salt
200ml sugar
2 eggs
1800-2000ml white flour
Raisins and one egg for decoration.
How to make the Lussekatter:
Use a saucepan to melt the butter and when fully melted pour in the milk. When the liquid is lukewarm (38 Celcius degrees) pour it into a bowl along with the yeast, and then stir the saffron into the mixture. Add salt, sugar and eggs, and little by little add the flour. It takes a bit of time to mix the flour in, and towards the end you may want to use the kitchen bench to kneed the dough . As long as the dough is well combined and has a round shape you can allow for it to be a little bit sticky when you touch it. Fill the kitchen sink with hot water, and put a rack over the water and place the bowl on it. Cover it with kitchen towels to contain the heat from the water, and let the dough raise until twice it's size.
My dough took approximately 40 minutes to rise, and then I put it on a lightly floured kitchen bench and kneeded it until it was not sticky. I then divided the dough into small portions, that I rolled out as a thin sausage shapes, and folded the ends to the middle. I placed the folded pieces on a rack with baking paper on it. I brushed them lightly with egg and placed raisins at each end of the bun (Lussekatt). You bake the buns in the oven on 225 Celcius degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until golden color.
Linnemoren
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