Today is Santa Lucia-day, and for the first time I attempted to make lussekatter, the traditional sweet saffron buns. I’m not a big fan of saffron, so I substituted cardamom.

Before chowing down lussekatter we did about an hour long home practice, with the baby watching from a blanket wondering what on earth we were doing. I’m just recovering from a cold and haven’t practiced in a while, so I focused on covering a little bit of everything: Surya A + B, some standing poses, tree pose, backbends, seated poses and hips, and shoulder stand. It was a bit of a hodge-podge, but felt great!

Lussekatter (Santa Lucia sweet safron buns)

150 g butter
0.5 l milk
50 g fresh yeast/3 envelopes dry yeast
0.2 l sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of ground saffron/2 tsp ground cardamom
1.3 l flour
1 egg
Raisins

To make:

1. Melt the butter in a pan, add milk and heat until the mixture has the right temperature for the yeast. Dissolve the yeast in a little of the liquid, then add the rest of the milk and butter mixture. Add sugar, salt, saffron and/or cardamom, then the flour. Let rise until about double in size.
2. Form the dough into different shapes, see picture. Let rise for about 15 minutes, then brush with egg wash and decorate with raisins. Bake at 425 F for about 10 minutes.