Happy Lucia

Celebrating the saint Lucia, is not as big a thing in Denmark, as it is in Sweden - but there is one
tradition I do my best to follow every year, as I am a bit of a closet Swede: baking Lussekatte or
Lucia saffron buns. They are delicious and vaguely exotic with the sweet, musky saffron taste.
They are said to originally not celebrate the saint Lucia, but to be symbolizing the fight against the
evil and dark forces = Lucifer, hence the name 'Lussekatte' or, as I have seen them called among the
english speaking: 'Lucy cats'.

Download your recipe here

Update: I have tried this recipe, and it's better, I think. The dough is not quite as buttery rich, and rises better. It's in Swedish - but Google will translate, if you need to!

Here is what Donna G. Genzmer from the University of Wisconsin writes:

Background:

St. Lucia is an Italian saint who has been adopted by the Swedes. She gave her dowry to the poor. Her fiancee denounced her for this. She was blinded and burned. The flames didn't touch her so she was stabbed in the heart. The red sash represents the wound. It is said that she appeared during a famine in Sweden in the middle ages carrying food to the farmers across Lake Vännern.

 

She is associated with the idea of light. In the middle ages, December 13 fell on the shortest day of the year. (In Sweden, the sun is not up very long in winter. In some places it doesn't come up at all.) This holiday celebrates the fact that the days will now get longer.

Today:
On the morning of December 13, the oldest daughter dresses in a special long white dress with a red ribbon around the waist and white socks and no shoes. She puts a wreath made out of leaves on her head. The wreath has 6 - 8 candles on it. Nowadays the candles are usually battery powered light bulbs instead of real candles. Her sisters also wear special long white dresses but they have shiny ribbons around their waists and they have another shiny ribbon around their heads. They carry a candle in their hands. Her brothers wear a special long white gown with a shiny sash and a pointed hat with three stars on it. They carry a baton with a star on it. They are called Star Boys. 
The children serve coffee and special saffron bread to the rest of the family. They walk into the bedroom with the oldest daughter in the front, followed by the next tallest girl, down to the smallest. Then the boys follow with the tallest in the front. As they bring in the Lucia bread and coffee the girls sing "Santa Lucia" (in Swedish, of course), and then the boys sing "Stefan was a Stable-boy." The children then go to their neighbors and teachers and serve them the coffee and bread.

Significance of Symbols:
candles - light 
yellow (saffron) bread - light
bare feet - charity

(Traditionally, you can eat the bread until Christmas, but not before St. Lucia)