My Danish Kitchen

Kringle

Kringle is a filled Danish yeast pastry which sometimes is baked into a pretzel shape but most often it’s shaped into a rectangle or a circle instead. I am going to post the original recipe here which makes 4 Kringler, which seems like a lot, but you can always freeze the remainder down and then thaw and bake as needed. But for today I chose to cut the recipe in half and just make two cakes.  As with any yeast cake it is always best served the same day it’s baked.

A quick note about egg sizes. I always use large eggs when I bake. However one time I baked this recipe my large eggs was almost like a jumbo size which resulted in having to add quite a bit more flour than the recipe called for. But be careful when adding extra flour. You want the end result to be a very soft and pliable dough that has just let go of being sticky.

Also in this recipe I’m including a couple of different filling options. In the original recipe they used a cinnamon remonce, raisins and nuts for the filling. My favorite filling is a combination of an almond remonce and cake cream where I pipe 2 lines of almond remonce with 1 line of cake cream in the middle which is super delicious, so I’m also including instructions on how to make both of those as well.

The folding process for making Kringle

Just wanted to share with you that this particular recipe comes from a lady named Anne Margrethe who lives in Hirtshals, Denmark. Her Kringle recipe was featured on a Danish television show hosted by Søren Ryge and he declared it “Denmark’s best Kringle”. And I must say it really is super delicious!

Starting top left picture: Cubed butter in liquid, Remonce, Filling on dough, Finished Kringler

Kringle (makes 4 Kringler, 1 Kringle serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2 deciliter finger-warm water (6.8 fluid oz or 200 ml)

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 50 grams cake/fresh yeast)

3 tablespoons sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

150 gram baking margarine, cut into small cubes, room temperature (5.3 oz)

150 gram butter, cut into small cubes, room temperature(5.3 oz)

450 gram all-purpose flour (15.9 oz)

Cinnamon Remonce:

225 gram butter

225 gram sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Fillings: optional

100 grams raisins

50 grams chopped almonds

Garnish:

Pearl sugar (or regular sugar)

Almond slices

Other filling options

Almond Remonce:

225 gram butter, room temperature

225 gram sugar

200 gram almond flour

Bagefast Kagecreme (Cake cream for baking):

2 eggs

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 deciliter milk

1 vanilla bean (or 2-3 teaspoons vanilla sugar)

Directions:

To make dough: Using warm water, confirm that the water is between 100 to 110 degrees F (no more than 110 degrees). Pour warm water into a large bowl, add 1 tablespoon of the sugar and sprinkle yeast over water, give a quick stir and let sit for 10 minutes. Add remaining sugar, eggs, salt, butter/margarine and flour. Using your hands, mix all ingredients until dough comes together. There may still be small pieces of butter clumps, that is OK. If the dough is too sticky add a little more flour but careful not to add too much. Dough should be very soft and pliable. Transfer dough to a clean bowl, cover with a clean dry tea-towel and place bowl in a warm location and let rise for 1/2 hour.

To make Cinnamon Remonce: place butter in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until almost all melted. Add sugar and cinnamon. Remove from stove and stir until all sugar is melted with the butter. Butter and sugar may be separating, that is OK as it will come back together as it cools. Allow to cool, place in refrigerator if needed. The end result should be like a thick paste. For easy use, load remonce into a piping bag or a large zip lock bag, cut off bag tip and your Remonce is ready for easy piping onto dough.

Optional – To make Almond Remonce: stir together soft butter, sugar and almond flour until it forms a soft homogeneous mass. For easy use, load remonce into a piping bag or a large zip lock bag, cut off bag tip and your remonce is ready for easy piping onto dough.

Optional – To make Kagecreme (Cake cream for baking): cut open lengthwise the vanilla bean and scrape out vanilla seeds. Mix the vanilla seeds with a small amount of the sugar and squash them together to separate the seeds. Whisk all ingredients together till smooth and pour into a small cooking pot. While whisking bring it to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes to remove any flour taste. Pour cake cream into a container and allow to cool a little before covering with cling wrap all the way down on to the surface. Place in refrigerator and cool completely before using. Once cold, load cream into a piping bag or a large zip lock bag, cut off bag tip and your cake cream is ready for easy piping onto dough.

Rolling out dough: Sprinkle flour onto your work surface and give the dough a quick soft kneading. Shape dough into a log and roll dough out . Cut dough into 4 equal sized rectangles. Each rectangle should be approximately 30 x 15 centimeters (11.5 x 6 inches). Working with one rectangle at the time, pipe Remonce filling down the center of each dough rectangle and top with raisins and almonds if using. Fold the outer 1/3 of dough over the middle and lightly brush dough with an egg wash. Then fold the other outer 1/3 of dough over the middle, the egg wash will act as a glue. Brush both end with egg wash and fold in. Roll the filled dough rectangle over so it’s now placed upside-down (seam side down). Carefully place dough rectangle onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat process with remaining of dough rectangles. If planning on baking your Kringle at this time, allow dough to rise for another 15 minutes on the baking sheet before baking (you won’t seen a significant difference in rising).

Freezing: If you are planning on freezing the unbaked Kringle, wrap it up in freezer paper and then foil (or a large zip lock bag if you have one). When ready to bake, thaw in refrigerator for 24 hours, then place on parchment paper at room temperature for 1 hour before baking.

Baking: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly beat egg with a pinch of salt and brush dough with egg wash. Sprinkle with Pearl sugar and almonds. Bake for 12-14 minutes on middle rack in preheated oven. Allow to cool on baking sheet. Enjoy!

Source of Kringle recipe: adapted from Anne Magrethe i Hirtshals

Source of Almond Remonce: adapted from  Bagekurset

Source of Bagefast Kagecreme (Cake Cream): Majspassion