Saffron Buns

By cookism

You know the period of Advent is around the corner when you see saffron buns appearing in bakeries and homes. These curvaceous buns glow yellow like the sun, before turning a beautiful golden brown upon baking. With a distinctive taste of saffron in every bite, these Swedish lussekatter rolls are sure to make you want to eat them long after Advent is over.

Ingredients

• 250 ml lukewarm milk
• 7 g dry active yeast
• 60 g unsalted butter, melted
• 0.5 g saffron
• 10 cardamon pods (optional)
• 120 g quark
• 100 g sugar, plus more for grinding saffron
• 500 g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 34 dried cranberries
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp cream

Preparation

Step 1

1. Finely grind saffron with a generous pinch of sugar in a mortar and pestle. If you are using cardamon in your saffron buns, remove the seeds from the pods and grind them with a mortar and pestle too.
2. Sprinkle yeast into lukewarm milk, mix and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes till mixture turns frothy, then stir in melted butter, saffron, cardamon and quark. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Mix well, form a well in the middle and pour in the wet mixture.
3. Stir in flour into the bowl to form a rough dough. Tip dough onto a lightly-floured work station, knead for about 5 to 10 minutes until it is smooth and the gluten is developed. Form the dough into a ball and place it back into a deep mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rise until it doubles in size, about 45 minutes to an hour.
4. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. When dough has doubled in size, punch down the dough and tip it on a lightly-floured surface. Divide the dough into 17 pieces of about 60g per piece. Roll each piece into a rope, about 14 inches long. Roll each end towards the center in opposite directions, creating an inverted S-shape.
5. Place the buns on the baking trays and press a cranberry into the centre of each spiral. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise for an additional 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 220C.
6. Gently brush each bun with beaten egg mixed with a tbsp of cream, then bake it in the oven until golden for about 10 minutes.