Ulaanbaatar, MongoliaSunday, December 13, 2009
Maybe it's the dark. Or maybe it's the cold. (The high temperature today was -5 °F / -21 °C. The low was -31 °F / -35 °C !) Or maybe it's working at the Scandinavian Department for three and a half years. In any case, I woke up the other morning with a powerful desire to bake Luciakatter (Lucia buns) for the first time in my life. After all, today is St. Lucia Day and any kind of celebrating that can be done indoors around here is the right kind of celebrating.
I consulted the internet and several friends for a recipe. Caught somewhere between my understanding of metric measurements, a lack of metric measuring tools, my own baking experience, and a strong "hurry up" feeling, I came up with my own version of the recipe.
Here it is:1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter or margarine
1 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teas. yeast
1 egg
1/4 teas. saffron
1/4 teas. salt
flour
Melt the butter with the milk--don't let them get too hot. Add the water. In a separate bowl, crush the saffron thread with the sugar. Add the sugar and saffron to the liquid mix. Mix in the yeast, egg, and salt and dump in some flour. Start mixing. When the dough is stiff enough to knead, put it on a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. Let rise until double in a covered bowl. Roll out the dough and form the "s" shape. Put on a lightly buttered baking sheet and let rise again. Put 2 raisins in each bun, paint with raw egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 10-12 (?) minutes in a 375 °F oven.
Next year maybe we'll sing and have candles, too--
