Kringle
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Kringle (Template:IPAc-en, Template:Audio) is a Northern European pastry, a variety of pretzel. Pretzels were introduced by Roman Catholic monks in the 13th century in Denmark, and from there they spread throughout Scandinavia and evolved into several kinds of sweet, salty or filled pastries, all in the shape of kringle.
In Danish and Norwegian, the word is kringle, plural kringler; Template:Langx, plural kringlid; Template:Langx, plural kliņģeri; Template:Langx, plural kringlor; Template:Langx, plural rinkelit; Template:Langx and Icelandic: kringla. The word originates from the Old Norse kringla, meaning ring or circle.
In the Netherlands, a particular type of sweet kringle is well known under the Dutch name krakeling.
The shape of the kringle has given name to a similarly entangled feature found in some proteins, the so-called kringle domain.
Scandinavia
Denmark
In Denmark, kringle denotes the pretzel-like knotted shape rather than the pretzel pastry type. Kringler may be made from puff pastry (like Danish pastry) or yeast dough, filled with remonce or marzipan and raisins, sprinkled with coarse sugar, nut flakes or icing.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Other types of kringles in Denmark include saltkringler, which are small salty kringler - the Scandinavian equivalent of pretzels -, and kommenskringler which are half-hand-sized breads in the kringle shape, made from unsweetened yeast dough spiced with caraway seeds. Sukkerkringler are similar, but sweet pretzels, sprinkled with sugar instead of caraway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fødselsdagskringler are a large sweet bread pretzel for birthday celebrations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Smørkringler are large crusty and sweet pretzels with a spread of butter on the backside. Smørkringler are not as popular nowadays.<ref>Template:Cite web Official homepage of the Baker's Guild of Copenhagen.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0" />
Kringler are pastries with a long history in Denmark, and are still popular items in modern Danish bakeries. Nowadays, kringles are usually made with only one crossing and not two, as in the original kringle and pretzel shape.<ref name="CopBG">Template:Cite web Official homepage of the Baker's Guild of Copenhagen.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Norway
In Norway, kringle or kringla (the Norwegian declension of the same term) often refers to yeasted, ring‑shaped pastries, sometimes filled with cinnamon sugar, almonds, or jam. A common shape is the wreath made of connected cinnamon buns; similar to an almond kringle or “klippekrans” in Norwegian baking tradition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sweden
In Sweden, kringla (plural kringlor) refers to small, pretzel‑shaped sweet or bread‑like pastries typically served with coffee (fika).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> One well‑known variant is the sockerkringla, a sugar‑twisted soft bun made from enriched yeast dough infused with cardamom, dipped in melted sugar and also often enjoyed during Swedish fika, especially around holiday seasons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Bakers in Södertälje and Arboga are noted for local specialties such as Södertäljekringlan; a coffee‑served kringla that helped earn Södertälje the nickname “pretzel city”.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Another variation, choklad‑kringlor, are chocolate‑flavoured, nut‑topped kringles, once so ubiquitous that old‑style bakeries would hang a kringle sign outside in Sweden.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Estonia
United States
In the United States, kringles are hand-rolled from Danish pastry dough (wienerbrød dough) that has been rested overnight before shaping, filling, and baking.<ref name="whatscookingamerica/kringle">Template:Cite web</ref> Many sheets of the flaky dough are layered, then shaped into an oval. After filling with fruit, nut, or other flavor combinations, the pastry is baked and iced.<ref name="nyt">Marialisa Calta. "Fare of the country: Wisconsin, Danish Pastry With a Classic Twist". The New York Times, July 9, 1989.</ref>
Racine, Wisconsin, has historically<ref name="shepherdexpress/kringle-official">Template:Cite news</ref> been a center of Danish-American culture and kringle-making.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="wisn42350455">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="biztimes/racine-kringle-battle">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia-Ethnicity">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A typical Racine-made kringle is a large, flat oval measuring approximately 14 inches by 10 inches (35 cm by 25 cm) and weighing about 1.5 lb (680 g).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="nyt"/> The kringle became the official state pastry of Wisconsin on June 30, 2013.<ref>"Kringle becomes Wisconsin state pastry". WTMJ, July 1, 2013. Accessed July 26, 2013.</ref> Today, several of the original family-owned bakeries established in the 1930s and 1940s that continue the tradition of making kringles include Lehmann’s, Bendtsen’s, and O&H Danish Bakery.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A Wisconsin distillery in Middleton, Wisconsin, makes a kringle-flavored cream liqueur from Wisconsin cream, rum, sugar, and natural kringle flavor.<ref>"GSN Review: Kringle Cream" December 29, 2013.</ref>
In other parts of the United States, kringle may refer to a slightly sweet buttermilk cookie shaped like a pretzel or figure eight.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Other places where kringles may be found in the United States include the Ballard area of Seattle, Washington; Redmond, Washington; Solvang, California; Story City, Iowa; Burr Ridge, Illinois; Springfield, Missouri, and Watertown, Massachusetts.Template:Citation needed In 2005, Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, held a Kringle Kontest, which was won by Kirsten's Danish Bakery of Burr Ridge, Illinois.
Symbolism
Template:See also Baker's guilds in Europe have used the kringle or pretzel as a symbol for centuries. It is told (but currently unconfirmed by historic documents), that when Vienna was besieged by the Turkish Ottoman armies in 1529, local bakers working in the night gave the city defence an early warning of the attacking enemy. For this, they were later rewarded by the Pope, with permission to use a crown as part of their kringle guild symbol.
The guild in Denmark is now the only baker's guild in the world with official authority to display a royal crown as part of their baker's guild trade symbol that is often hung outside of bakery shops.<ref name=CopBG/><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link Official homepage of the association of Bakers and Confectioners in Denmark.</ref>
See also
References
Further reading
External links
- Racine Kringle Recipe taste of home
- https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/kringle-recipe0-1941189 Racine Kringle Recipe] Food Network