St. Lucia Buns
By Leah ColinsPublished on December 16, 2020
Time
1½ hours, plus 2 hours rising and 1 hour cooling
Yield
Makes 16 Buns
Ingredients
Before You Begin
For an accurate measurement of boiling water, bring a full kettle of water to a boil and then measure out the desired amount. If the dough becomes too soft to work with at any point, refrigerate it until it's firm enough to easily handle.
Instructions
- Combine boiling water, saffron, and turmeric in small bowl and let steep for 15 minutes.
- Whisk flour and yeast together in bowl of stand mixer. Whisk milk, melted butter, granulated sugar, egg, and saffron mixture in 4-cup liquid measuring cup until sugar has dissolved. Using dough hook on low speed, slowly add milk mixture to flour mixture and mix until cohesive dough starts to form and no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Cover bowl and let dough sit for 10 minutes.
- Add salt to dough and knead on medium-low speed until dough is smooth and elastic and clears sides of bowl but sticks to bottom, about 8 minutes. Reduce speed to low, slowly add currants, and mix until incorporated, about 2 minutes.
- Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form smooth, round ball, about 30 seconds. Place dough seam side down in lightly greased large bowl or container, cover tightly with greased plastic wrap, and let rise until increased in size by about half, 1½ to 2 hours.
- Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Press down on dough to deflate, then transfer to clean counter. Press and roll dough into 16 by 6-inch rectangle, with long side parallel to counter edge. Using pizza cutter or chef's knife, cut rectangle vertically into 16 (6 by 1-inch) strips and cover loosely with greased plastic.
- Working with 1 dough strip at a time (keep remaining pieces covered), stretch and roll into 16-inch rope. (If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch it again.) Coil ends of rope in opposite directions to form tight S shape. Arrange buns on prepared sheets, spaced about 2½ inches apart. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let rise until puffy, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Gently brush buns with egg mixture and sprinkle with pearled sugar, if using. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Transfer rolls to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour, before serving.
Time
1½ hours, plus 2 hours rising and 1 hour coolingYield
Makes 16 BunsIngredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Saffron was revered in times past by royalty, but many modern commercial bakeries now rely on artificial food dye for their St. Lucia buns. We wanted to re-create the classic dough. We found through testing that we needed just a small amount of saffron—¼ teaspoon—to give these sweet treats balanced flavor, but this left the color a little lacking. We knew we didn't want to tint our buns with food coloring, so we turned to another yellow spice, turmeric, whose flavor went undetected. Steeping the saffron and turmeric in boiling water for 15 minutes helped release the full potential of the saffron's water-soluble flavor compounds. One-third cup each of sugar and currants (the customary mix-in) gave these buns just enough sweetness. While the dough can be shaped into a variety of traditional forms, we stuck with the most popular “S,” or “cat's tail,” shape. Brushing the buns with egg wash and giving each an optional sprinkling of pearled sugar created a glossy and festive finish.
Before You Begin
For an accurate measurement of boiling water, bring a full kettle of water to a boil and then measure out the desired amount. If the dough becomes too soft to work with at any point, refrigerate it until it's firm enough to easily handle.
Instructions
- Combine boiling water, saffron, and turmeric in small bowl and let steep for 15 minutes.
- Whisk flour and yeast together in bowl of stand mixer. Whisk milk, melted butter, granulated sugar, egg, and saffron mixture in 4-cup liquid measuring cup until sugar has dissolved. Using dough hook on low speed, slowly add milk mixture to flour mixture and mix until cohesive dough starts to form and no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Cover bowl and let dough sit for 10 minutes.
- Add salt to dough and knead on medium-low speed until dough is smooth and elastic and clears sides of bowl but sticks to bottom, about 8 minutes. Reduce speed to low, slowly add currants, and mix until incorporated, about 2 minutes.
- Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form smooth, round ball, about 30 seconds. Place dough seam side down in lightly greased large bowl or container, cover tightly with greased plastic wrap, and let rise until increased in size by about half, 1½ to 2 hours.
- Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Press down on dough to deflate, then transfer to clean counter. Press and roll dough into 16 by 6-inch rectangle, with long side parallel to counter edge. Using pizza cutter or chef's knife, cut rectangle vertically into 16 (6 by 1-inch) strips and cover loosely with greased plastic.
- Working with 1 dough strip at a time (keep remaining pieces covered), stretch and roll into 16-inch rope. (If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch it again.) Coil ends of rope in opposite directions to form tight S shape. Arrange buns on prepared sheets, spaced about 2½ inches apart. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let rise until puffy, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Gently brush buns with egg mixture and sprinkle with pearled sugar, if using. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Transfer rolls to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour, before serving.
Gift This Recipe
Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.
Appears In
Key Equipment
Keep Exploring
0 Comments