Culture and Food: lussekatter

Vi lager lussekatter! Den er gul og veldig bra fordi saffron.  Jeg drikke cafe au lait med lussekatter min. (We´re making saffron bread. It will be yellow and delicious because of the saffron. I will have a cafe au lait with my saffron bread).



Since I´ve not gone into town to shop at all today, there´s no bread in the house, and I want some, so....I have to make some myself! After seeing what alls in the larder and fridge,  a LOAF of lussekatter, as opposed to the usual tiny swirled buns. Lussekatter is a Swedish slightly sweet bun recipe, using saffron, and a few raisins. Norwegians make a similar recipe. Usually it is made at Christmastime season, served with hot cocoa, coffee, cafe au lait (as in my case). With clementines decorated with whole cloves, and a few pecans (as in my case), and red/white candy canes:).

Here is a great video on Youtube, similar to the recipe I used to use, but this one is much easier, tastes great, and is very quick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdcYG_tnGv8


  Because of the ingredients I´ve got (mostly whole grain dense rye flour, a little whole wheat flour, lots of soured milk and sour cream, I´m making a similar recipe to above, by looks only, throwing everything mostly together by eyeing it, to make a saffron loaf of bread. A bit like any regular loaf of homemade rye bread, but with the dominant flavour saffron, and with lots of sour cream, and soured milk giving it a slightly sour dough flavour also. The dough will be entirely too sticky and a bit floppy to make the usual saffron buns like in the video! It will still taste as good, and just will take less time making. All I do is mix the wet, add to the dry til it´s the consistency I want. Sprinkle with flour, cover with tea towel, rise for 2 hours. About half an hour before the rising is done, turn on the oven to a high gas mark, or about 250 C, or about 255 F to heat up. Rising done, add a bit more flour, knead a bit with wooden spoon and hands covered in oil, as the dough will be like a very sticky flimsy pizza dough. Sprinkle my flat slightly deep cookie sheet with coarse corn meal, pour the dough onto that, making a large square shape, so the dough is about four inches high (or even) all over as much as possible. Bake in hot oven til done---top crusty, yellow bread cooked through but not over cooked. I think mine took about 15-20 minutes. Depends on the oven, and how much bread dough you ended up making! I make bread a lot so don´t need a recipe to just make a loaf. The small lussekatter need an actual recipe, as the dough needs to be a certain consistency to stay together to make it into "snakes" then twirl the ends towards each other in opposite directions, and stay that way during the second rise, and baking.

Lykke Til! (Good Luck!)