Today, on December the 13th Scandinavians celebrate St. Lucia, a third century martyr who according to legend spent her dowry on the city's poor people which resulted in the suitor seeking her death.
Kids all over Scandinavia celebrate by walking in procession singing the Santa Lucia song. The song is originally Italian, but has been translated into the Scandinavian languages.
As they sing the kids hand out sweet buns called Lussekatter, probably representing Lucia caring for the poor.
I still rember doing this as a kid, and it was always a special day.
For more about St. Lucia check out this link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy
Lussekatt Recipe
1 1/3 sticks of butter (2/3 of a cup melted)
2 cups of whole milk
1 pack of dry (or fresh yeast)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cardamom
1/4 gram saffron (or 1/2 tsp turmeric)
6 - 6.5 cups of wheat flour (white)
1 egg
1 cup of raisins
Melt the butter and stir in the milk. Add the yeast to the lukewarm mix.
Stir in sugar, salt, cardamom, saffron, and flour until the dough is firm enough. Let it rice under a towel until it's twice the size.
Drizzle some flour on your baking surface and knead it well. Roll the dough and cut it into finger-width strands. Shape the pieces into S-shaped Lussekatter (see pic). Put them on a baking sheet with some distance from each other. Let hem rise for for about 15 min in a warm (not hot) place.
Coat the buns with a thin layer of whisked egg and decorate with rasins on each end.
Bake in the middle of the oven for about 15 min on 440F.
See this video from SVTV to hear the Lucia procession singing "Santa Lucia".
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