Today is the 3rd Advent Sunday; and tomorrow (13th December) here in Sweden we celebrate "Lucia", or St Lucy's day.
It's been another snowy week here. They say that we can expect milder weather and thaw during the week to come; but yesterday, we just had top-up of more snow... I went for a short walk in the old cemetery nearby, but decided against walking all the way into town.
Instead, I stayed home in the afternoon, and did some more baking. 'Lucia buns' (saffron bread) this time... It's been a few years since I last made those. Sometimes I've made a loaf of saffron bread in my bread machine instead. But the last couple of times I tried that (last year + a couple of weeks ago), the result was not good. The dough rose too much, only to then collapse in the middle, and in the end the loaf turned out a weird shape with a hard crust, falling apart when cut... I decided it's probably time to junk that machine, and go back to the traditional way of baking!
I'm out of practice with the manual baking of these buns, though. Below is an image of what I was aiming for (with those on the left above)... Ah well. At least they turned out edible!
Today, I went for another snowy walk around the cemetery - for air, light and exercise.
In the afternoon, I watched a local Lucia/Christmas concert "live online" - from our biggest church downtown, courtesy of the local newspaper, on their website. (Cast from my tablet onto my TV screen.)
Your saffron buns don‘t look all that different from the ones you were aiming for, I think.
ReplyDeleteThe concert looks very festive. Are there special hymns or musical pieces for Lucia?
Meike, yes there are traditional Lucia songs (not called hymns). Often the program at such an event or concert consists of a mix of the special Lucia songs, traditional Advent/Christmas hymns, and sometimes other Christmas songs as well.
DeleteLovely photos, wish it was snowing here but it's too humid, I'd love to try your saffron buns fresh from the oven with lots of butter.
ReplyDeleteAmy, these are sweet buns and not traditionally eaten with extra butter. But of course you could if you like... (especially in your imagination!)
DeleteThat is so cool, that you can watch your local church celebration on T.V.! I would not care how the buns looked, as long as they taste good! In fact, imperfections means they are homemade.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a point, Ginny! ;)
DeleteThose sound so delicious. I once had a roommate with Sweedish background, who celebrated Saint Lucia day by waking us up singing, with candles, and buns...oh how lovely!
ReplyDeleteGlad you have the experience of a traditional Lucia celebration, Barbara! I haven't seen a "live" one in a couple of years now (with the pandemic and all), but I was actually up early this morning and watched another Lucia concert on TV. (I didn't sent my alarm but I happened to wake up early anyway...)
DeleteYour buns look so much more appetising than the ones in the photo below.
ReplyDeleteI have one of those Ikea sets of electric candles, and seeing your real ones has reminded me to find it out and plug it in. Not the same as a real candle and flame but much safer with an inquisitive animal around.
Thanks CG. Although I have neither pets nor children running about, I'm always careful with real candles - I don't like to leave those unsupervised so only light them when I'm going to be still (but awake!) for a while. The electric candlesticks (usually with seven candles) we often place in the windows. When out and about in the winter darkness, it's always nice to see the window lights. Nowadays I have one in every room/window myself (= 4).
Deleteyour baking looks amazing to me,it looks like the one you showed below and i bet they are delish.. i have never baked, but since i have gone gluten free I have tried a few recipes, just not the same without the gluten... do you freeze these, or are they for visitors that are coming
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandra. I used to bake more when I was younger, therefore I feel a bit out of practice - especially with biscuits and buns. More often nowadays, if I feel like baking, I usually settle for a plate of what we call muffins (small cupcakes without icing). Simple and does not take long. I'm not expecting visitors any time soon, so most of these went into the freezer, but will probably end up eaten by ME. Hopefully not "on top of" other things, but "instead of". (Like instead of a sandwich, with my afternoon tea). I did only make half the recipe...
Delete