A Nordic variety of pretzel, kringle is a popular cake in Northern Europe that is called kringle (plural kringler) in Denmark and Norway, kringel, (plural kringlid) in Estonia, kliņģeris (plural kliņģeri) in Latvia, kringla (plural kringlor) in Sweden, rinkeli in Finland, kringel in Germany, kringla in Iceland and krakeling in the Netherlands.
What is kringel?
The word kringel comes from Old Norse or Old Icelandic, corresponding to the first written attestations of a medieval Scandinavian language, meaning “ring” or “circle”, a word that is documented in the 13th century.
Kringel, typically Scandinavian, is made of a butter dough, flaky or leavened depending on the country or region. They are all similar to the pretzels of Central Europe and related to the Danish wienerbrød and Swedish wienerbröd, which literally means “Viennese bread”.
This specialty has also spread to other countries in the world, including Estonia and the United States of America, where it has become a typical dish, especially in the city of Racine, a city in the state of Wisconsin, located on the shores of Lake Michigan in the northern suburbs of Chicago.
The Estonian kringel is filled with an almond cream made of butter, flaked almonds and chocolate chips are often added.
What is the origin of kringel?
To understand the origins of kringel, one must go back to the origins of pretzel, which was born in Germany and traveled to Scandinavia and Estonia.
Estonian culinary traditions have come a long way and are influenced by German, Swedish and Slavic cultures.
There are many hypotheses about the origin of pretzel, as well as the origin of its name. There are many stories about its origin.
The most popular hypothesis would be its Christian origin. Indeed, it is most often thought that it would have a Christian link and would have been invented by European monks.
Pretzel would have been invented in 610 by a monk. It would represent arms crossed on the chest. In the Middle Ages, it was indeed common to pray.
According to one story, it was an Italian monk who produced this special pastry in the 6th century. The monk wanted to reward his students with small pieces of bread shaped in the same way as the children’s arms when they crossed them during prayer. The pastries were named pretiolas, meaning “small reward”.
The idea was copied by bakers in the rest of Europe, where the pretzel was considered a symbol of luck, longevity and success. For example, it was customary for German children to hang pretzels around their necks on New Year’s Eve.
The pretzel became even more famous in 1510 when Turkish troops tried to dig under the walls of Vienna at night. The bakers of the city, who were working, heard the noise and the Turks could be stopped. As a reward, the bakers received their own seal with, among other things, a pretzel. It has been the symbol of bakers ever since.
In the Christian Church, pretzel has indeed a religious significance, both as an ingredient and as a form. Not only is the shape of the knot thought to represent praying hands, but the three holes in the pretzel are thought to represent the three incarnations of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Pretzels, made according to a simple recipe using only flour and water, were eaten on an empty stomach, while Christians were forbidden to eat animal products. Over time, pretzels began to be associated with Lent and Easter.
However, the pretzel holes probably also had a practical purpose in the past. The bakers could then place them on vertical bars.
The pretzel is said to have been used as an emblem by bakers and their guilds in southern Germany since at least the 12th century. A twelfth-century illustration in the Hortus deliciarum, a Christian encyclopedia in manuscript form, created between 1159 and 1175 by Herrade of Landsberg and her nuns at the convent of Hohenbourg (Mount St. Odile), in the southwestern German region of Alsace (now France), contains the first probable image of a pretzel.
The different variants of kringel
Scandinavia
Kringler are pastries with a long history in Denmark, and are still popular presentations in modern Danish bakeries, pastry shops and tearooms.
In Denmark, kringle is made from puff pastry, like Danish pastry, or from leavened dough filled with marzipan and raisins, and sprinkled with sugar pearls, crushed nuts or icing.
It can also be filled with remonce, a cream from Danish cuisine made of butter or margarine and powdered sugar, vanilla and sometimes macaroon, marzipan or crushed almonds with other ingredients such as cinnamon or raisins. This cream is also used as a filling in wienerbrød.
Other types of kringle in Scandinavia are saltkringler, meaning “salted kringler”, which are small salted kringler, the Scandinavian equivalent of pretzels, and kommenskringler, which are tiny pretzel-shaped breads made from unsweetened leavened dough spiced with caraway seeds.
Also in Denmark, and in many parts of Scandinavia, sukkerkringler, meaning “sugar kringler” in Danish, are also a kind of bread roll similar to small pretzels sprinkled with sugar pearls. They are made from a greasy, buttery dough and, as in Finland, are sometimes topped with crushed almonds.
Fødselsdagskringler, meaning “birthday kringler” in Danish, are a kind of large, sweet, leavened pretzel traditionally prepared for each birthday.
Smørkringler, meaning “butter kringler” in Danish, are a kind of large, crispy, sweet pretzel with a spread of butter on the back.
In Sweden, södertäljekringlan, meaning “kringel of Södertälje”, a town in Sweden, capital of the municipality of Södertälje in Stockholm County, is a coffee kringel. The city is so famous for this pastry that it has even been nicknamed the “pretzel city”. But kringels have a long tradition in Sweden and Arboga, in the county of Västmanland located in the center of the country, is also a town famous for its kringels.
United States
In the United States, kringles are made from Danish pastry dough such as wienerbrød, a pastry that has been left to rest overnight before shaping, filling and baking: many layers of dough are stacked, then shaped into an oval. After filling with fruit, nuts or other flavor combinations, the dough is baked and then covered with a glaze.
Racine, Wisconsin, which is the center par excellence of Danish-American culture, is the center of kringle making in the United States. A typical kringle made in Racine’s bakeries is a large flat oval weighing about 750 grams, which became the official Wisconsin state pastry on June 30, 2013. A distillery in Middleton, Wisconsin, actually makes a kringle cream liqueur from Wisconsin cream, rum, sugar and natural kringle flavor.
In other parts of the United States, kringle sometimes refers to a lightly sweetened buttermilk cookie in the shape of a pretzel or number eight.
Other places in the United States where kringles are very popular are: the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle, the largest city in Washington State and the Northwestern United States of America, the city of Redmond located in King County, also in Washington State, Solvang, a municipality in California, located in Santa Barbara County, central Iowa, particularly Story City, a Midwestern state of the United States, Burr Ridge in the state of California, and the city of Redmond in the state of Washington in Santa Barbara County, central Iowa, particularly Story City, a Midwestern state of the United States, Burr Ridge in Illinois, a Midwestern state of the United States, and Watertown, a city in Massachusetts, Middlesex County, in the Northeastern United States.
In 2005, Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, an American college rooted among Danish immigrants and founded in 1884 by a Danish Lutheran priest, held a Kringle Kontest, which was won by Kirsten’s Danish Bakery in Burr Ridge, Illinois.
Germany
A variant of kringel in Germany is called laugenbretzel, meaning “pure sodium hydroxide pretzel”, commonly called caustic soda. These pretzels are soaked in caustic soda before baking, which gives them their beautiful color and typical taste. Some people use dissolved baking soda instead of caustic soda, but the pretzels remain quite pale when baked, and they don’t have their characteristic good taste.
The dough is also prepared with wheat flour, malt, salt, yeast and water. A laugenbrezel is often sprinkled with large grains of salt or cumin.
Russia
In Russia, the word pretzel has been known since the 18th century. Vyborg, a Russian city located on the border between the Slavic-Russian and the Finnish-Scandinavian worlds, has the nickname of Pretzel City. Vyborg pretzel, with butter, cardamom and many spices, is baked according to the recipe of the Franciscan monks that appeared in the 14th century, and is also famous in Finland where it is called viipurinrinkeli.
Kringle
Ingredients
- 8 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup milk (warm)
- 8 tablespoons icing sugar
- 4 eggs
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the filling
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 3 eggs
- 1¼ cup ground almond
- Sliced almonds
- 5 tablespoons brown sugar
- A few drops of vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips (optional)
For the topping
- 2 egg yolks
- Sliced almonds
Equipment
- Stand mixer
Instructions
Filling
- Beat the eggs and brown sugar until the mixture triples in volume and is firm.
- Add the butter, vanilla extract and almond meal.
- Mix until smooth.
Brioche
- Mix the yeast and sugar in warm milk and set aside for 15 minutes.
- Add the flour and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until reaching a sandy texture.
- Swap the whisk for the hook attachment.
- Make a well in center of flour and add the beaten eggs.
- Start the stand mixer on low speed and gradually add the milk, sugar and yeast mixture, then add salt, gradually increase the power to medium / high, and knead until you get a non-sticky and soft dough.
- From the moment the dough is wrapped around the hook, kneading should continue for at least 5 to 7 minutes.
- At the end of kneading, the dough should be homogeneous, wrapped around the hook and pulled away from the sides of the bowl.
- Put the dough in a large container, cover with a cloth and let the it rest for 45 minutes in a warm place away from drafts. It should at least double in volume.
- On a floured surface, roll the dough and divide in 6 equal parts.
- Roll each portion into a rectangle with a rolling pin.
- Spread the filling and sprinkle with sliced almonds and chocolate chips.
- Roll the dough on itself tightly and form a long "sausage".
- Cut the roll in half lengthwise.
- Braid the two pieces together and give the braid a crown shape. Shape the braid tightly.
- Cover with a cloth and let the crown rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.
- Preheat convection oven to 350 F (180˚C).
- Brush with egg yolk, chocolate chips and almonds and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
Source
Wikipedia (EN) – Kringel
Wikipedia (EN) – Pretzel
What’s Cooking America
Wikipedia (SV) – Kringla
Vera is the “expert” of the 196 flavors’ duo. With over 30 years of experience in the kitchen, she is now sharing her skills as a private chef and cooking instructor.
Donna Lindner says
Thank you for sharing your memories and recipes with us. I love it when a recipe comes with history.
I will put this in the “to Bake” list!
Maret Kapp says
In the instructions, we are told to roll and divide the dough into 6 equal parts, which then have to be rolled into rectangles and filled. How are the 6 portions combined? Are we making 6 “sausages”?
Mike Benayoun says
Yes Maret. 6 “sausages”, which are then cut in two to be braided. Enjoy!
Debbie says
So this recipe makes 6 kringle?
Rai says
This brioche is absolutely perfect! I love it so much!