Swedish Saffron Buns

• 1/2 teaspoon dried saffron threads
• 1 cup half and half (milk and cream)
• 2 envelopes dry yeast
• 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 cups sifted flour,or as needed
• 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 egg white, beaten
• Raisins or currants, for decorations
• Lump sugar, crushed
• Grated blanched almonds

1. Crush dry saffron to a fine powder and steep in 1 or 2 tablespoons lukewarm half-and-half for 10 minutes.
2. Sprinkle yeast into 1/4 cup lukewarm water, add 1 tablespoon sugar, cover lightly and set aside in a warm place for 5 to 10 minutes, or until foamy.
3. Scald remaining half-and-half and add 1/3 cup sugar, salt and butter, and stir until butter melts.
4. Cool to lukewarm.
5. Add to yeast mixture along with strained saffron milk (if you are sure all saffron is dissolved, straining is unnecessary) and 1 beaten egg.
6. Mix well.
7. Gradually stir in flour until mixture is smooth and not sticky, but still soft and pliable.
8. Knead for 10 minutes, or until shiny and elastic.
9. Place in a lightly floured bowl, dust top of dough with flour, cover loosely and set to rise in draft-free corner until double in bulkabout 1 1/2 hours.
10. Punch dough down and knead for 2 or 3 minutes.
11. Shape in any of the following forms, depending on the finished buns or cakes you want.
12. Let rise 30 minutes and bake in preheated 400 oven for 10 minutes.
13. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 30 minutes more, or until golden brown.
14. LussekatterLucia Cats: Pinch off small bits of dough and roll into sausage shapes 5 to 7 inches long.
15. Place these strips together in pairs, pinching centers to join them and coiling four ends out.
16. Brush with egg yolk glaze and bake.
17. Using a little egg white, stick a raisin or currant in the center of each coil of the hot buns.
18. JulgaltChristmas S: Roll piece of dough to 7-inch sausage, twist into S, brush with egg glaze, bake, then dot with raisins or currants, using a little egg white.
19. Gulluagn-Double S: Form two 9-inch sausage rolls, twist each into an S and place one over the other, brushing under the top S with milk to make them stick.
20. Brush with egg yolk glaze, bake, then dot with raisins or currants, using a little egg white.
21. Praestens HarPriests Hair: This is a larger pastry, for which you need 3 rolls about 7 inches long.
22. Curl each one, then insert one within the other, sealing them together with milk.
23. Brush with egg yolk glaze, bake, then dot with raisins or currants, using a little egg white.
24. LuciakronaLucia Crown: Form seven 7-inch rolls.
25. Then roll half of each roll flat.
26. Coil top half of strips as for S buns and place them next to each other to form a tiara effect.
27. Twine flat ends around each other to join coils.
28. Brush with egg yolk glaze, bake, then dot with raisins, using a little egg white.
29. JulbrodSaffron Braid: Shape dough into 3 ropes, then braid.
30. Brush with egg yolk glaze and sprinkle with sugar and/or grated blanched almonds.
31. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, lower heat to 350 and bake about 50 minutes more, or until cake sounds hollow when tapped on bottom.
32. JulkalaChristmas Cake: Shape dough into a large cake.
33. To make the round cake, form one continuous long sausage roll of all the dough and then coil it.
34. With a scissors, make 1-inch-deep cuts 2 inches apart around the outside roll.
35. Brush with egg yolk glaze and sprinkle with coarsely crushed cube sugar.
36. Raisins may be kneaded into the dough.
37. Bake as for Julbrod .

threads, milk, yeast, water, sugar, sugar, salt, unsalted butter, egg, flour, egg yolk, egg, raisins, lump sugar, almonds

Taken from www.cookstr.com/recipes/swedish-saffron-buns (may not work)