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      St Lucia Day Christmas baking 4

      Swedish Juliga kolasnittar ~ Christmas Caramel cuts
      St Lucia
      December 13th

      A Swedish tradition mainly but one that the Norwegians have slowly returned to is St Lucia Day 13th December  Clicking on the previous link will take you to a post that explains why this day is celebrated in Scandinavia and here too you will find the traditional bake in Sweden and Norway of Lussekatter.  Lussekatter is made with yeast and the all-important spice that is saffron they are best eaten warm, straight from the oven.
      their own.

      Lussekatter ~ saffron buns eaten traditionally on the 13th December

      Saffron is the spice associated with December 13th in the Scandinavian countries and as I have previously shared the above Lussekatter with you so now this year I decided to share a saffron cookie, to become one of the 7 cookies I will be baking this year.  Let me present you with a Swedish inspired cookie~

      Rolled dough with saffron

      Juliga kolasnittar ~ 
      Christmas Caramel Cuts

      You will need:                                                            

        175g plain flour

        1 tsp baking powder

        100g butter softened

        100g sugar

        1tbsp vanilla sugar               
      Roll out the saffron dough
      into two equally sized rectangles

        2 tbsp golden syrup

        1/2 g saffron



      1  Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celcius

      2  Mix the flour, baking powder and both sugars.

      3  Add the saffron to the softened butter and mix well, add to the dry ingredients.

      4  Mix the mixture until it forms a dough, I used an electric mixer.
      Cut the cookies as soon as they come out of
      the oven, cut them on the slant as is traditional

      5  Form two equally sized balls form the dough mixture.                                                                                           
      6  Spread each dough ball onto a separate greaseproof paper baking tray and roll out to a thin 3-4 mm in depth rectangle.  Even out the edges as best you can.  See photograph for better clarification.

      7  Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden in colour.

      8  Immediately begin cutting diagonal lines ( see photograph) across the cookie mixture whilst it is still hot.  If you leave it too long to cut the mixture it will crisp up and you will have many breakages.

      9  Allow to cool and place in an airtight container until needed.

      10   like to serve this is a wide-brimmed class as they traditional should be long and cut on a slant making them ideal to serve in such a way.  And Storage, I often use Norges glass (Kilner jar)

      Juliga kolasnittar ~ Christmas caramel cuts,
      a cookie with saffron for St Lucia Day

      I have for a while been thinking of making my own Lucia wreath or doll to have beside the lussekatter I make every year.  In Scandinavia, there are many versions to buy, but something more homemade feels right.  As ever time is my demon and alas I have not had the time, but I have managed to save me time in the long run and do not need to create a pattern because look what the good old internet has found for me...

      What did we do before the internet?

      St Lucia doll crocheted created by the talented Swedish crocheter, just look at the proportions of this amigurumi crochet doll of St Lucia and her procession followers.   I definitely want to crochet them!



      Traditionally the girl chosen to be St Lucia for the procession had lit candles on the head wreath, in later years this has been replaced by battery-powered candles but I rather like this crochet version for the youngest kindergarten-aged children.    Head wreath with candles


      St Lucia head wreath with candles



      Happy St Lucia day, why not try making some lussekatter or Juliga kolasnittar and bring some 
      Scandinavian baking into your home

      6 comments:

      1. Replies
        1. Thank you Jackie, it was a day filled with family and friends

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      2. Love the procession, you'll definitely hsve yo make one. x

        ReplyDelete
      3. Oh, no, more baking . . . :-) Seriously, these look SO good. Both the buns and the kolasnittar. I like the St. Lucia procession, too. I'm thinking that a long, traditional wooden kitchen table would look good with an Advent wreath at one end, a st. Lucia wreath (with candles) at the other end and the procession in the centre across the back. And all your lovely baking spread out on a red and white cloth. Hmmmm One day, I hope! Sending you Peace and Calmness. ~ Linne

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. Linne, seriously, these are SOOOOOO good. You MUST make them.

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      I will always read all comments and will try to reply but it may take me a couple of days, do please pop back and lets get a conversation going...