Lussebröd!

Time for some Swedish baking tradition! Christmas IS around the corner anyway, so here is the recipe to some traditional swedish saffron bread with marzipan filling. i LOVE marzipan!

50 gr butter
2 1/2 dl milk
25 gr yeast
1 1/4 dl milk curd, or I think creme fraiche might also do the trick..
1 bag of saffron (0,5 gr)
2 pinches of salt
1 teaspoon cardemum (or as much as you want hehe)
3/4 dl sugar
8 dl flour
150 gr marzipan (keep it in the fridge!)

Ok now!
You place the butter in a big bowl and stick it in the microwave for a couple of minutes, and then you add the milk and warm it up a little more altogether. Make sure it's about 37 degrees (warm but still cool enough to put your hand in it).
Add the crumbled yeast and use a whisk to make sure the yeast is completely dissolved.
Add the sugar, the saffron (I dissolved it in a little bit of water first), the cardemom the curd or creme fraiche, the salt, (so basically everything but the marzipan) and then start adding the flour.
Add it slowly, blending everything with your hand. In the end the whole mixture should be wet and fluffy, but not TOO sticky. Also make sure you don't add too much flour , so that it's too dry. The goal here is a juicy dough, just dry enough so you can work it without everything getting stuck on your fingers. After it's all kneaded, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it ferment for 15 minutes. I actually wrapped everything up with a blanket to assist the process ;)
In these 15 minutes, take the marzipan out of the fridge and cut it in small, thin slices. When the 15 minutes have passed, take the dough and spread it out on a floured surface with a rolling pin. Cut it in three pieces and form them in long pieces. Flatten out the pieces and then add the marzipan in the middle of every long, flat piece. Spread evenly to all 3 pieces.
When you're done, roll up the pieces, so that they will be like long, thin rolls stuffed with marzipan (I hope the description helps..). Take the three long rolls and braid them together into a bread. You can either leave the shape long, or you can shape the bread into a round, braided form.
Cover the bread again with plastic foil and blanket, and let it ferment again for another 30 minutes. After that, you can decorate the top of your bread with one egg applied with a brush and chopped almonds, or grain sugar.
Bake in the preheated oven at 225 degrees for about 15 minutes. Let it cool and then cover it well, so it doesn't dry up.