Around Christmas time in Sweden, one of the biggest celebrations is St. Lucia’s Day on December 13th. Lucia is an ancient mythical figure with an abiding role as a bearer of light in the dark Swedish winters.

During St. Lucia, Swedes serve coffee and baked goods, such as saffron bread (lussekatter) and ginger snap biscuit (pepparkakor), to the other members of the family. These traditional foods are also given to visitors during the day.

This lucia-inspired golden almond milk was made with the most commonly used spices of baked swedish goods. It can be served cold or warm.


Ingredients:

2 cups filtered water
1/4 cup dried raisins
8-10 raw almonds soaked
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp turmeric
A pinch saffron
A pinch cardamom
A pinch salt

Instructions:
1. Soak the almonds and dried raisins in warm water for 15 minutes, then strain and drain, transfer to a high speed blender.
2. Add the filtered water, saffron, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom and salt.
3. Blend until you get smooth and nice yellow color milk.
4. Using a strainer, vegan milker or cheesecloth, strain the milk, remove the pulp.
5. Pour the milk in a 500 ml glass bottle. Store in the refrigerator before serving or gently heat, whisk well and serve. Glad Lucia! 🌟

–This is an excerpt from the “GOURMET RAW: 140 Vibrant Living-Food Recipes” cookbook

Photography & Recipe by Nazlı Develi