Serves: Makes ~30 buns
Approx cost: €3.75 (Main cost is the saffron)
Approx calories (per bun): 115
Approx preparation and cooking time: 2 hours
Happy Saint Lucy’s Day everyone. Today’s post is all about this celebration, in the cold, dark December. A long, long time ago, it was commonly believed in Scandinavia that the 13th of December was the longest night of the year (and thusly the shortest day) hence the decision to pick this day as the feast day for this saint, although as it turns out, according to later discovered discrepancies, this is not actually the case.
It was commonly believed in Scandinavia as late as the end of the 19th century that this was the longest night of the year, coinciding with Winter Solstice.
[…]
While this does not hold for our current Gregorian calendar, a discrepancy of 8 days would have been the case in the Julian calendar during the 14th century, resulting in Winter solstice falling on December 13. With the original adoption of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century the disrepancy was 10 days and had increased to 11 days in the 18th century when Scandinavia adopted the new calendar, with Winter solstice falling on December 9.
[…]
The choice of 13 December as Saint Lucy’s day, however, obviously predates the 8 day error of the 14th century Julian calendar. This date is attested in the pre-Tridentic Monastic calendar, probably going back to the earliest attestations of her life in the 6th and 7th centuries, and it is the date used throughout Europe.
Though, you may be wondering, who is this Saint Lucia, and why is such a day celebrated somewhere as secular as Sweden? Wikipedia to the rescue once again!
Saint Lucy (283–304), also known as Saint Lucia, was a wealthy young Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint by Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Orthodox Christians. Her feast day in the West is 13 December; with a name derived from lux, lucis “light”, she is the patron saint of those who are blind. Saint Lucy is one of the very few saints celebrated by members of the Lutheran Church among the Scandinavian peoples, who take part in Saint Lucy’s Day celebrations that retain many elements of Germanic paganism.
Saint Lucy is one of seven women, aside from the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. Hagiography tells us that Lucy was a Christian during the Diocletian persecution. She consecrated her virginity to God, refused to marry a pagan, and had her dowry distributed to the poor. Her would-be husband denounced her as a Christian to the governor of Syracuse, Sicily. Miraculously unable to move her or burn her, the guards took out her eyes with a fork. In another version, Lucy’s would-be husband admired her eyes, so she tore them out and gave them to him, saying, “Now let me live to God”.
The celebration in Swedish churches is usually lovely (except for one year when they tried to make it really modern and “new-age”), and for as long as I’ve known my wife we try to get up early every December the 13th to watch the service live on Swedish TV. While many schools and churches have their own ceremonies each year, the televised one usually changes each time – you can see a video from one a few years ago below, as well as enjoying the traditional “Sankta Lucia” song!
Traditional food for the feast of Saint Lucy in Sweden are these little saffron buns, called “Lussebullar”, which literally translates to “Lucy Buns”. They are often eaten throughout advent, though especially today, so if you happen to have a few pinches of saffron at home, bake up a batch, and celebrate the feast day of the patron saint of light (among other things… salesmen too apparently!). Have a great day everyone! 🙂
Ingredients
- 625g Flour
- 3 decilitres Milk
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 100g Butter
- 1 Egg + 1 Egg to glaze
- 1 heaped tablespoon dried Yeast
- 2 pinches of Saffron
- Raisins to decorate
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and add in the milk and the sugar. Heat it until it’s warm to the touch, stirring all the while to dissolve the sugar.
- Remove the milk/butter mixture from the heat. Place the yeast into a bowl and spoon in a few tablespoons of the warm liquid. Mix well with a fork or small whisk and set aside for 15 minutes or so, for the yeast to properly activate. Meanwhile, add the egg and saffron into the remaining liquid in the pan and mix well.
- Place the flour into a large bowl and then transfer the yeast mixture, and the milk from the pan into the bowl with the flour. Mix well to combine the liquid and flour into a dough, and then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
- Return to the bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to prove for 30 minutes. Transfer the dough again to a clean surface and divide into approximately 30 pieces. Roll out the pieces into a sausage shape, about 30 cms long and form a back to front “S” shape (though much more spiralled at the top and bottom, as shown below).
- Place the “lussebullar” onto a non-stick baking tray, and gently press a raisin into each end of the “S”, in the centre of the spiral. Cover with a clean cloth again and allow to prove for about an hour, until they’ve doubled in size. Meanwhile, turn the oven on to about 230 degrees Celsius to pre-heat.
- When the buns have doubled in size, break the other egg into a bowl and whisk to blend. Brush the buns lightly with the beaten egg and then place into the oven, baking for about 6 minutes, or until golden brown (and a bit lighter than this :p). Enjoy! 🙂
Lucy's buns? More like Lucy's eye's. What a morbid story. I think I'll just enjoy the buns and not think about eye gouging stories. Love the spiral!
Whoops. I mean, "eyes".
Thanks for you comment Ping – the end of the story is rather unfortunate indeed, but I think it's incredible that we still celebrate the life of someone who lived hundreds of years ago!
Charles, thank you for putting us in such a festive mood. The St Lucia's history, the video and the song make me feel like celebrating something I have never celebrated. Now I'll tell you something weird (or maybe funny?): I used to play a certain -hated -instrument as a child and I don't know why, but one of the songs we played the most was St Lucia! Until today I had no idea it was linked to the Swedish celebration. I played it so often I knew all the notes by heart (you know, when you can sing with notes instead of words). Weird isn't it?
Your beautiful Lussebullar look soft, heartwarming and delightful. Since I have been craving yeast cakes for some time (it always happens in the Winter), I might even make them. I wonder how saffron tastes in a sweet dish. I have never had it this way. Thank you for another Swedish recipe. I appreciate a lot discovering this country's cuisine.
Thanks Sissi – which was the instrument you played? I'm guessing it was either the recorder, piano or violin, since these are the instruments which children always seem to be "forced" into playing 😀 I have to admit that I cooked the buns a little too long… As I mentioned in the recipe, they should have been cooked for 6 minutes. Unfortunately, I forgot this and cooked them for almost 10. The texture was luckily unaffected – they were still soft and tasty, though a lot more brown than they should have been 🙁
A stunning seasonal bread from Sweden that I hoped you'd make just so I could see your pictures. I'm too lazy to bake up a batch but I'll enjoy yours from here. 🙂 Many thanks.
Thanks A_Boleyn! I wonder what they'd be like with matcha inside? 😀
You are a wicked person even 'suggesting' another use for matcha to me. 🙂
I don't think the buns are too dark, by the way. I know they are brushed with egg to help them get darker/glossy, but I'm too cheap to 'waste' an egg so I just brush my buns with milk which gives them a similar effect. In any case, it's the protein in the egg which makes them get too dark if I'm not paying close enough attention to the timer or I have forgotten to set the time a little less than most recipes ask for.
Yeah, I use milk when I'm cooking pastry – I wonder if there's an actual precise difference, or advantage/disadvantage to using one or the other? I should look it up sometime 😉
Charles, these are positively fantastic!! I absolutely love the shape of your Lucy buns and the raisin at the center is the perfect punctuation – looks just like an eyeball! (that’s quite a story…). These are so unique and beautiful Charles… I will never live December 13th the same way again!
Thanks Kelly – There are a number of ways you can form the bun. Some people just make plain round buns, you can also make something which looks a bit like a head with a big frilly beard! Glad you enjoyed the post today 🙂
Great recipe with a great story. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jen! Hope you have a chance to give it a try!
Oh these are just gorgeous Charles! Yummmmmmm!!!!!! Look at the beautiful color on that bread. I could eat a whole basket right now. (I seem to be carb loading lately…) 😉 And I love the history and story here. Saint Lucy. It reminds me of my Great Grandma. Her name was Lucy and let me tell you she was quite the character. A darn good bread baker too. Miss A and I named our sourdough starter after her. Although in hindsight that probably wasn't a great idea because now I feel guilty about neglecting it. 😉 Now I'm going to go show the kids the video. I think they'll appreciate it too.
Oh noes – did you let your sourdough starter perish? I think as soon as I'm back from my vacation I'll create a starter myself – something I've been wanting to do for ages and keep putting it off.
Heh, I know someone called "Lucia" and some people were saying "Happy you-day" to her on the 13th… I thought for a minute it was her birthday but then I realised that I was being a bit dumb and it was because it was Lucia day!
Well, I'm not sure if it perished or not. I haven't done much with it in a while. I just sort of forgot about it. Then I got mad at it. LOL. I may try and revive it, but I've got to get through the holidays first. Countdown on for your trip?!
Oh yeah – my trip can't come soon enough. I'll be pretty mad if it snows and my flights get cancelled though!!!
I'm not sourdough expert but I think it "dies" if you don't feed it in a few days… a week or so tops if it's in the refrigerator… so you might be out of luck 🙁
never heard of saint lucy until today, so thanks for that little history lesson, and for the gorgeous looking buns! i love how they're shaped, kind of like a curled in S!
Thanks Shuhan! I baked the buns a little too long (oops) – they should normally be a bit more pale, but the taste wasn't affected 🙂
These are gorgeous, Charles. And what a beautiful story. My cousin's name is Lucy, I'll have to wish her happy Lucy's Day!
Hi Eva – indeed, I hope you baked her some "bullar" too, to celebrate 😉
Happy St Lucy's Day! Thanks for the history and lovely recipe.
Thanks BakingAddict – I think the story is really interesting, and it's such a nice way to celebrate – with all the candles, during the month when it's so cold and wintry!
I just love the design of these Lussebullar. I can't believe I never heard of these. I just love learning something new on your blog. Amazing post as always 😉
Thanks Kay 🙂 Hope you have a chance to try them at some point 🙂
Thank you for educating me about St Lucy Day. I heard about it but I didn't know detail so it was nice to read your post. Your bread looks really delicious. The shape is very unique and it's fun unrolling to eat. 🙂
Thanks Nami – I did bake them a touch too long unfortunately, so they're a bit more brown than they should be, but the taste was great! Hope you're having a great vacation!
Gosh, these buns look so tasty… I don't think I'd make them saffron flavoured, but I would like to try them with some sort of flavour (I'll come up with one)… Now I know why St Lucia is called St Lucia… But I'm still wondering why one of the world's most renowned universities was built there in particular…. hmmmm…
P.S. Almost everyone here pronounces St Lucia as Saint Lu-sha, not Lu-see-ya… what's the more correct way?
Cardamom is often used as a flavouring, AFAIK.
Thanks Fati – As A_Boleyn mentioned, apparently she's seen them flavoured with cardamom. I've only ever seen saffron, and I think across Scandinavia, saffron is the default colouring/flavouring. The dough is similar to other "milk" doughs, used for things like cinnamon buns though, so you could easily adapt the recipe if you weren't a fan of saffron.
As for the pronunciation – In Sweden it's pronounced "Lu-see-ya", and the same in England. I asked my Spanish friend called Lucia, and her name in Spanish is pronounced a bit like "Lu-thee-ya". I've never heard it pronounced Lu-sha, although it might be a regional difference.
We had this cardamon/saffron discussion the last time you made St. Lucia buns, Charles. 🙂 I probably gave you this link which uses both at the time.
http://creampuffsinvenice.ca/2009/12/13/santa-luc…
The Italian song "Santa Lucia" pronounces it as Lu-chee-a. I think the Lu-sha pronunciation is common in the West Indies/Caribbean where the island went back and forth between British and French ownership.
I indeed remember the discussion 😉 My wife thinks the idea of adding cardamom to a Lucia bun is "humorously outrageous" so I'll just say that it's unlikely I'll be adding it to mine anytime soon, for fear of stern reprisals! 😀 😀
Wow your food looks great. I am sure am hungry looking and reading
Thanks Loveforfood! I hope you enjoy taking a look around and welcome to my blog 🙂
What an intriguing story, and I am amazed at how people in the past could be so courageous to do something like, i.e.: gorge out their own or others' eyes!:p
There are just so many cultural festivals around the world, and I love to hear/read all about them! I love these buns, which are just so commemorative of the Saint of Lights (but I am not going to look at them like they are eyes, nooo!)
These are BUNS…yes, definitely BUNS, BUNS, BUNS!:)
Thanks Christy – indeed… just enjoy them as delicious, juicy raisins! You can even make them in a different shape if you prefer 😀
I'm going to show my girls the video as well — I think they'll love it, particularly the lady with the candles on her head! Great story and those buns look delicious. They are definitely on my list of things to try in the new year.
Thanks so much Barb – I hope you enjoyed the video! I always find it very sweet, especially in my sleep-deprived morning state of half-awakeness! 😀
Hope you get to try the buns – let me know what you think 🙂 Have a great day!
I'll be making these for sure..Anything "briochy" is good for me…I already foresee plenty of sweet and savoury variations to that (can't help it)…
It looks cute..
Thanks Nada – yeah… “briochy” is a great way to describe it actually. I hope you have a chance to give them a try 🙂
You did a wonderful job on the rolls. They are beautiful! They look delicious, too 🙂 Saffron has never been a spice that I've bought before, but if I ever have some laying around, I'll be sure to try these!
Thanks Stefanie – Saffron isn't something I buy often. It's so crazy expensive!. The last time I bought some I got a jar containing 8 tiny little pots of 0.1 grams each. The jar of 8 portions was about €18, so I usually only pick some up when I have a specific need in mind!
Charles, my husband loves anything made with dough baked browner than most so he would think that they were perfect. I think they are beautiful as well and like the lovely shape. I have seen celebrations on this day on TV and think it is very sweet and special. Thank you for a special post.
Hi Karen! That sounds very familiar – my father *loves* darkly baked things – hard cheese crusts almost burnt onto the edge of a macaroni cheese, toasted bread – anything, he loves it much browner than other people. I think his love passsed onto me – Whenever I’m at peoples’ houses and I see them put bread into their toaster, only for it to pop out again 45 seconds later barely toasted at all… I immediately have to jack the timer right up to high and have the bread come out very brown (otherwise it’s like eating warm bread :p)
Glad you enjoyed the post! 🙂
These are awesome! I now understand the full tradition and history of this December 13th Day! Looks so worth the steps involved, very light looking in texture too!
They're definitely very soft – they also freeze well and just need a couple of seconds in the microwave once defrosted to warm them up and make them all fresh and tasty again!
Wow, I love the use of saffron, never had it in bread. This is just such a wonderful post.
Thanks Greg – I'd love to see what you did with it! Next December 13th maybe?! 😀