Where it comes from
On December 13 — Lucia Day — Swedish households are woken before dawn by a procession of children in white robes, one wearing a crown of candles, all singing. The procession serves lussekatter, glowing yellow with saffron and twisted into an S-shape (sometimes called 'Lucia cats' or 'devil cats' — the swirl supposedly defends against evil). Made with cardamom-yeasted dough enriched with saffron tea, finished with raisins set in the curls.
On the plate
Saffron-yellow, faintly sweet, with two raisins set in the curled ends — eaten warm with a mug of glögg before dawn on December 13. The aroma of saffron in butter is unmistakable.
How it works
Saffron needs fat and heat to release — bloomed in warm milk first, the threads release picrocrocin (the flavor compound) and crocin (the color pigment). Without the warm milk bloom, the dough turns pale and tastes only of butter.
Variations
The original 17th-century version was twisted into an S-shape (the 'devil's tail') as Christianized pagan superstition; modern bakeries also do straight or X-shapes — the religion has gone, the saffron stayed.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
5 steps · Show ↓125 min active · 55 min waiting
How it's made
5 steps · Show ↓- 136 min
Heat 1 large pinch saffron threads in 50ml warm milk 10 min to extract color.
- 236 min
Dough: combine saffron milk + 250ml additional warm milk, 25g fresh yeast, 100g sugar, 100g melted butter, 1 tsp cardamom, 1 egg, 1 tsp salt, 700g flour. Knead 10 min. Rise 60 min.
- 336 min
Divide into 16 pieces. Roll each into a 25cm rope, curl both ends in opposite directions to form an 'S'. Place on a tray.
- 436 min
Rise 45 min. Brush with beaten egg; press a raisin into each curl center.
- 536 min
Bake 225°C 8-10 min until deeply golden. Eat warm with mulled wine (glögg).
