Swedish Lussebulle aka Saffron Buns

St Lucia saffron bun is a Swedish pride. When i came across this beautiful bun recepi i'm eyeing for my saffron that kept nicely secured in my baking ingredients cabinet. SAFFRON??!! Cost as much as gold by weight. Reminds me of my grandma's stories back in olden days in India. She used to grow her own saffron in a small pot and how she safely guarded the pot everyday and night as the pot can easily fetch handsome bucks those days. Even till todate, saffron is the most expensive spices in the world followed by vanilla beans.


Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp saffron threads
3/4 cup milk
1 packet active yeast
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp salt
Raisin


Glaze

1 egg, beaten


Methods

In a pot, warm the milk, saffron and 1 tsp white sugar. Do not boil the milk. Remove from the heat.

Sprinkle the yeast on the warm milk pot and let sit for 5 mins for the yeast to activate. In 5 minutes the mixture will become foamy


In a large bowl, sift  the flour and salt add 1/4 cup sugar and mix well. Add the saffron infused milk, the eggs, butter and sour cream. Knead till well combined. The dough will be a little sticky to the touch

Shape the dough into a large ball and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit in a warm place for 1  hour.

After an hour, the dough will be double in size. Gently knead the dough and shape into 12 balls. Lightly flour a work surface, Roll each balls into a rope about 14 inches long. Curl the ends in opposite directions forming an 'S" with spirals at each end.

Place the buns on a prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Place the  in a warm place to rise for about 25-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400' F or 200'C. Brush the tops and sides of the dough with beaten egg and garnish with raisins on the both end of spiral. Bake for 12-14 minutes in a middle rack of the oven. (Turning halfway through cooking to ensure even browning). Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack before serving