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Christmas Saffron Wreath with Cranberries and Orange

6th December 2018 By Louise Leave a Comment

Christmas Saffron Wreath

Christmas Saffron Wreath

The countdown is on!  Only 17 days left to go, sorry don’t want to stress you out but what will you be baking this Christmas? Maybe you don’t fancy making mince pies this year and want to try something a little different.  I want to share this with you in case you’re looking for any last minute inspiration.

There is one spice that dominates at Christmas time in Scandinavia and that is saffron.  Despite being the world’s most expensive spice, saffron is widely used. Most common is lussekatter, a bun shaped into an ‘S’ to resemble a cat’s tail or saffransbullar, a saffron bun filled with almond paste, but it is also used in a number of other sweet and savoury dishes. It has a wonderful golden hew and a distinctive flavour.

For me the making of saffron buns brings back the fondest of memories. My mum and Mormor (Granny) would bake these golden delights together in preparation for Christmas.  The run up to the big day was always so busy in our house, sourcing the best ham to cook for the Julbord (Christmas table) making and rolling dozens of meatballs, deciding which pickled herrings we favoured and baking my favourite Janssons frestelse (Janssons temptation).  Potatoes cut into matchsticks, cooked with onions, milk, cream and Swedish anchovies.  If you’ve never tried it you must!

Here’s how to shape the wreath.

Saffron Dough
Saffron Dough
Rolled Dough
Rolled Dough

Spread the filling all over the surface of the dough
Spread the filling all over the surface of the dough
Cut in half length ways
Cut in half length ways

Twists the lengths
Twists the lengths
Bring the two ends together
Bring the two ends together

Print Recipe

Christmas Saffron Wreath with Cranberries and Orange

Prep Time25 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Total Time1 hr 55 mins
Course: Fika
Cuisine: Swedish
Servings: 1 Makes one wreath
Author: Louise

Ingredients

  • 15 g Fresh Bakers Yeast
  • 130 ml Milk
  • 260 g of Strong White Flour
  • a good pinch sea salt
  • 0.5 g Saffron Strands
  • 55 g Butter cut into small dice & room temperature
  • 30 g Caster Sugar
  • 1 Large egg 55g,  use half for the dough & half for glazing the wreath
  • 60 g  Caster Sugar
  • 100 g Ground Almond
  • Zest of an Orange
  • 80 g Butter room temperature
  • 80 g Dried Cranberries soak in boiling water for 15 minutes, drain and roughly chop

Instructions

Dough

  • Begin by grinding the saffron in a pestle and mortar. Crumble the yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attached, heat the milk with the saffron to 38°C and pour into the mixing bowl and stir to incorporate the yeast with the milk.  Add the flour, sugar and salt and mix until a dough forms on a slow speed.  Once the dough has come together add half the egg and the butter, increase the pace to medium/high and work the dough for another 5-8 minutes or until it feels shiny and smooth.  Place the dough in a bowl and cover with clingfilm and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Filling

  • Mix the ground almond, orange zest, butter and caster sugar until you have a smooth paste, add the cranberries, set to one side.
  • When the dough is ready, roll it out into a large rectangle on a lightly floured surface. The dough should measure approximately 50 x 27 cm. Spread an even layer of filling on the surface and roll into a log lengthways.  Now take a large sharp knife and cut the log in half lengthways and turn the exposed surface facing upwards, join the top of the two pieces together, then start twisting the two lengths together.
  • Transfer the twisted dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and shape it into a wreath by joining the two ends together.  Cover loosely with clingfilm and let it rise for approximately 45 minutes or until almost double in size.  Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180°C.

Baking

  • Brush with the remaining egg, bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until it’s golden brown in colour.  Cool on a wire rack.   Serve warm with coffee.

Notes

* You can of course make this dough by hand, just follow the steps and knead accordingly.
Once baked and completely cool, it can be placed in the freezer, defrosted and warmed in the oven when required.  
Christmas Table

Christmas Table

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Filed Under: Baking, Festive, Fika, Scandinavian Tagged With: almond, baking, christmas, orange, saffron

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About Louise

Hej, I'm Louise, a food enthusiast living in Marlow, Bucks, UK. Welcome to my culinary adventures in my Nordic Kitchen. Read More

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With a run of wedding cakes to prepare and a few o With a run of wedding cakes to prepare and a few other projects on the go I haven’t been able to make as much sourdough as I’d like. Well I remedied that yesterday! I double fed my starter on Sunday, to get it really active and then embarked on making ciabatta. Now this has been on my bake list for some time, it’s a lovely loaf with salads or made into a giant sandwich or even toasted. 
I’m almost there on the method, it needs a little tweaking but I’m pretty pleased with the result.
I had the pleasure of making and delivering this w I had the pleasure of making and delivering this wedding cake to @sircharlesnapier yesterday. What a gorgeous setting (I’ve popped a couple of photos on stories).

This was served for dessert, so was filled with a seasonal gooseberry and elderflower compote then coated in Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
That’s it for wedding cakes, for now at least 😅
A dish that works for any summer gathering and a g A dish that works for any summer gathering and a great Midsummer alfresco meal. Easy to BBQ too.

Have a great weekend friends.

Pepper Spiced Roasted Salmon with Garden Vegetable Salad.

For the Salmon
800g Salmon fillet (or sea trout)
1.5 tsp Malden salt
1.5 tbls white, red & green peppercorns
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp Demerara sugar 
2 Lemons, zest only
1 tbsp olive oil

Oven 180C fan.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the salmon fillet on the top.
Place the salt, peppercorns, fennel seeds & sugar in a mortar. Wash the lemons then zest 1 1/2 and place in the mortar. Pound together so that everything is mixed well (if you do not have a mortar, you can mix in a small bowl). Spread the spice mixture over the salmon and rub it in thoroughly. Drizzle over oil. Slice the lemon in thick slices and place around the salmon. Leave out for 1 hour. 

Green salsa
Chop the leaves of a bunch of parsley finely, then finely chop a small clove garlic and place in a bowl. Zest the remaining lemon half a add the lemon juice, 50ml EVOO, salt and pepper to the bowl of parsley. Mix together to a smooth sauce. You can also use a hand mixer.

Bake the salmon for 20-25 minutes or until just cooked through. Serve with roasted new potatoes a seasonal salad. And quick pickled red onions.
Glad Midsommar🇸🇪 I love where I live but Sw Glad Midsommar🇸🇪

I love where I live but Sweden is the place to be on Midsummer’s Eve. 

Always celebrated on the Friday (between 19-25 June and a National holiday)  A day filled with flower crowns (midsommarkransar), dancing, singing and a sun that never sets. 

And of course there’s plenty of food, cold beer and schnapps, preferably spiced. 
Apart from pickled herring, new potatoes & sour cream there’ll be a main course.
Watch out for my next post in a few hours…
I promised a few recipes for midsummer…let’s s I promised a few recipes for midsummer…let’s start with dessert: a super light summer berry cake with fresh cream with a hint of vanilla.

I have made a video to show you exactly how to make this cake on stories, which I’ll save to highlights.

🍓Swedish Midsummer Berry Cake🍓

6 large free-range eggs room temperature
85g unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla sugar or extract
160g golden caster sugar
¼ tsp fine sea salt
150g plain flour
3 tbls low sugar berry jam
strawberries and raspberries to filling the cake and decorate
* 850ml double cream, whip in 2 stages
edible flowers and herbs to decorate.
I can hardly believe that it’ll be midsummer at I can hardly believe that it’ll be midsummer at the end of the week, we’ll be celebrating as a family on Sunday. 

I’ll be posting a few Swedish inspired midsummer recipes in the next few days should you want to celebrate the summer solstice, the Scandinavia way.

Hope you’ve had a lovely weekend.

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