Tangzhong Swedish Saffron Buns (Lussekatter /St Lucia Buns) - 9 shapes

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Swedish

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 20

Proof the dough twice:: 2

Total Time: 2 50

Servings: large buns

Calories: 204kcal

Author: Marvellina

These Swedish saffron buns are simply amazing. The dough is prepared using tangzhong method. The buns are soft, fluffy, buttery, lightly sweetened and yeasted buns with an amazing aroma and beautiful vibrant color from saffron. I'm also sharing how to make the 9 traditional shapes you can make with these saffron buns.

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US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Ingredients

Tangzhong:

15 gr bread flour
90 ml whole milk

Dry ingredients:

Wet ingredients:

120 ml whole milk warm
2 gr saffron
1 large egg 50 gr without the shell, lightly beaten

To add last to the dough:

2 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
40 gr butter unsalted, softened

For decoration:

Raisins

Egg wash:

1 large egg beaten
1 tsp water

Instructions

Prepare tangzhong: (one day before)

Place milk and the bread flour in a small saucepan. Whisk until there is no more lumps. Cook this mixture over low-medium heat until it reaches 65 C (149 F). Remove from the heat and cover with a plastic wrap, touching the tangzhong so the skin won't form. I highly suggest using this the next day instead of using it on the same day. Store this in the fridge
15 gr bread flour, 90 ml whole milk

Make the dough:

Soak the saffron threads in lukewarm milk. Let them sit for 5 minutes
2 gr saffron, 120 ml whole milk
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients and the saffron milk. Add tangzhong you made earlier. Use a dough hook attachment to knead the dough until all the crumbly dough starts to come together into one mass, it may take about 2-3 minutes for this to happen. Don't be tempted to add any liquid. You may need to stop halfway and scrape the dough off the hook and the sides of the bowl and knead again several times
300 gr bread flour, 5 gr instant yeast, 5 gr milk powder, 120 ml whole milk, 2 gr saffron, 1 large egg
Once it comes into a dough, stop the machine. The dough will not be smooth, don't worry.Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes. This is an important rest that bakers refer to as an autolyse
After the rest, turn on and knead the dough again and knead for 1-2 minutes until it is a bit smoother. Then add the salt and sugar into the dough. Continue to knead until the dough is relatively smooth
½ tsp salt, 2 Tbsp sugar
Once you have a smooth dough, turn the machine back on again to knead and gradually add in the softened butter a bit by a bit. The dough will turn into a REAL sticky mess again because of the butter, just keep kneading and stop halfway and scrape the dough off the hook and bowl again and continue to knead until the butter is absorbed by the dough. It takes about 10 minutes kneading on speed 4 with my KA
40 gr butter
The dough should be flexible and smooth and pass the window pane test. When you stretch the dough thinly, it will not bread and light can pass through it

1st proofing:

Place this dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, cover it with a clean and damp tea cloth or plastic wrap and let it rise at a warm place for about 1 hour or until it doubles in size

Shaping:

Punch the dough down, divide into 9 balls. Cover these doughs with plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes. Make sure you don't skip this part of resting the dough before shaping. Work with one dough at a time and keep the rest covered
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper

For gullvagn:

Take one dough and divide it into two. Roll each of the dough into a long log, about 10 inches long, close to 1 inch wide. Curl each end in opposite direction. Place another log on top of this and curl the end in following the direction of the other curl. Place raisin on top of each curl and place on a baking sheet
Raisins

For julvagn:

Take one dough and divide it into five. Roll each of the dough into a log, about 6 inches long, close to 1 inch wide. Starting from one end, curl into a round spiral. Place them on a baking sheet, close to each other, but not too close to allow room to puff up during second proofing. Place on a baking sheet
Raisins

For jugalt:

This is actually the "S" shape that people have been mistakenly called lussekatt. Roll the dough into a log, about 10 inches long, about 2 inch wide. Curl each end in opposite direction to form an "S" shape. Place raisin on each curl and place on a baking sheet
Raisins

For lilja:

Roll the dough into a log, about 10 inches long, about 2 inch wide. Shape the log like a "U" with two arms on the side and then coil each arm to make it shape like a "U". Place raisin on each curl and place on a baking sheet
Raisins

For lussekatt 1:

Roll the dough into a log, about 10 inches long, about 2 inch wide. Cut through the middle of the log on each end, but leaving the center uncut. Curl each end and put a raisin in the middle and place on a baking sheet
Raisins

For lussekatt 2:

Divide the dough into 2 and roll each into about 6 inches long. Curl each end and put raisin on each curl and place on a baking sheet
Raisins

For pojke:

Roll the dough into a log, about 10 inches long, about 2 inches wide. Shape it into an upside-down U. Put the raisin in the middle (or you can put the raisin later too, it doesn't matter) and start braiding by crossing the two arms. Place on a baking sheet
Raisins

For julkuse:

Take one dough and divide it into two. Roll each of the dough into a long log, about 10 inches long, Place one dough on top of the other forming a “X”. Curl each end inside to face each other. Place raisin on top of each curl and place on a baking sheet
Raisins

For prastens har:

Take one dough and divide it into three. Roll each of the dough into a long log, about 6 inches. It's basically like three lilja. Place raisins on each of the curl and place on a baking sheet
Raisins

Second proofing:

Cover them with a cloth and let them proof until puffy again at a warm place. This may take about 30-45 minutes or slightly longer, depending on the temperature where you are

Baking:

10 minutes before the end of proofing time, preheat the oven at 350 F (180 C) for conventional oven. For convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 degrees.
Prepare the egg wash by whisking the whole egg with some water. Brush the buns with egg wash. Bake on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown or internal temperature is 190 F (88 C)
1 large egg , 1 tsp water
Remove from the oven and let it cool down in the pan for about 5 minutes and then lift the bread out and let it cool completely on a cooling rack to prevent the bottom from getting soggy because of the trapped condensation

Storing:

Enjoy and once it's cooled down completely, wrap it up with plastic wrap and it's good for about 3 days or so at room temperature. If you plan to keep longer, freezing them is better than storing them in the refrigerator

Nutrition