Traditional St. Lucia's Day Recipes

Recipe: Traditional St. Lucia's Day Recipes

Debra from Colorado
Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 108 Posts

December 13, 2009

Lucia Bread

• 11 Tbsp. butter
• 6 cups flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 pkg. dry yeast or 1 2/3 oz. fresh yeast
• 2 cups milk
• 1 gr. saffron -OR- 1/2 Tbsp. cardamom, 15 drops yellow food color
• 1/2 Tbsp. salt
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 egg

Note: Add 1/2 cup raisins to the dough if you like lots of raisins.

St. Lucia's Wreath

• 6 1/2 to 7 cups bread flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. cardamom
• 2 pkgs. active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. milk
• 1 egg

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
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• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp. milk

• 6 wax candles
• 3 yards ribbon

On floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl; cover and let rise until light and doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down several times to remove all air bubbles. Divide dough in half, shape into balls. Allow to rest on counter covered with inverted bowl for 15 minutes. Shape each half into a 45 inch rope. Twist ropes together. Place in ring shape on prepared cookie sheet; pinch ends to seal. Cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine 1 tablespoon milk and 1 egg; brush over wreath. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 35 minutes or until deep golden brown. (To prevent excessive browning, cover with foil during last 10 minutes of baking.) Remove wreath from cookie sheet immediately, cool on wire rack.

To assemble, cut and hollow out six (1 inch) deep holes in wreath to fit bottoms of wax candles, making sure holes are spaced evenly around the wreath. Place wreath on serving tray. In small bowl, combine glaze ingredients. Spread bottoms of candles with small amounts of glaze, insert into holes in wreath. Drizzle wreath with remaining glaze. Tie ribbon in bow; place on wreath. Yield 24 servings.

All purpose or unbleached flour can be substituted for bread flour. Decrease kneading time to 5 minutes, omit resting period and decrease each rise time 15 to 30 minutes.

Scandinavian Julglogg

• 6 cups red wine
• 4 oz seedless (pitless) grapes or raisins
• 4 oz clear honey
• 2 tbsp cardamom seeds
• 4 cloves
• 1 piece of cinnamon stick
• Grated rind of 1 lemon
• Grated rind of 1 lime
• 1 liter Aquavit

Traditional Lucia Pepparkakor

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. ginger
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. cloves
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
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• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter or shortening (do NOT use margarine)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup molasses 

Sift together dry ingredients; set aside. Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and molasses. Blend in dry ingredients thoroughly. Let dough stand overnight for easy rolling. On a well-floured board, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into shapes (we usually make gingerbread people) and bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Makes 1-2 dozen cookies NOTE: Prep time does not include time to let dough rest overnight.

Editor's Note:

Here is another article by Debra with recipes for this holiday:

• Foods In Celebration Of Hanukkah

Do you celebrate St. Lucia's Day? Share your favorite memories or traditions here.

Recipe: Swedish St. Lucia Buns

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup margarine, 2 eggs, cardamom, saffron, and 3 cup flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough of remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle...