Lucia Bread

Start by melting the butter (in a saucepan or microwave) and add the milk. Make sure the mixture is around 35-37 degrees Celsius (95-99 degrees Fahrenheit) before continuing.

Mix the butter-milk mixture with yeast in a bowl and stir well, e.g., with a dough scraper or wooden spoon.

Mix sugar and saffron together. This can be done in a mortar or placed between two cutting boards and rolled against each other.

Add the "sugar" to the bowl along with most of the flour. Mix everything well and knead the dough by hand.

Cover the bowl with a lid or a clean tea towel and let it rise for 30-45 minutes at room temperature (preferably warm).

Flour the kitchen counter and roll out the dough to about 20 x 20 cm.

Cut 10 long strips about 1.5-2 cm thick.

Place each strip on its side and roll from both ends inward to form an "S".

Let them rise again for 10-20 minutes.

Brush them with beaten egg and place a raisin at each end. The raisins can be soaked in water for 5 minutes to prevent them from becoming too dry/hard during baking.

Bake them for 11-13 minutes at 225 degrees Celsius (437 degrees Fahrenheit) in a conventional oven.