Kringle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section contains only non-IPA pronunciation information which should be expanded with the International Phonetic Alphabet. For assistance, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (pronunciation).

Kringle is a pastry developed in Scandinavia.

In Danish and Norwegian the word is kringle, plural kringler; Swedish: kringla, plural kringlor; Icelandic: kringla, plural kringlur; Finnish: rinkeli. The word origins from Old Norse kringla, meaning ring or circle.

In Scandinavia kringle denotes the pretzel-like knotted shape rather than the pastry type. Kringles may be made from puff paste (like Danish pastry) or yeast dough, filled with remonce or marzipan and raisins, sprinkled with coarse sugar, nut flakes or iced. Small saltkringler also exist, being the Danish word for pretzels. Kommenskringler are half-hand-sized breads in kringle shape, made from unsweetened yeast dough with caraway seeds. Sukkerkringler are similar, but sprinkled with sugar instead of caraway. Kringles are still popular items in modern Danish bakeries. The kringle symbol is one of the few ancient guild signs still being used and a golden kringle sign is often hung outside bakeries.

In the United States, kringles are hand-rolled from Danish pastry dough (wienerbrød dough) that has been rested overnight before shaping, filling, and baking. Many layers of the flaky dough are layered, then shaped in an oval. After filling with fruit, nut, or other flavor combinations, the pastry is baked and iced.

In America, kringles are chiefly produced in Racine, Wisconsin, the North American city with the largest population of Danes outside of Greenland (which is a self-governing portion of the Kingdom of Denmark), and a center of expatriate Danish culture. ^[1]). Kringle and Danish culture are an important part of Racine's cultural identity, and several local bakeries make and ship the hundreds of thousands of kringles per year each.^[2] The Ballard area of Seattle, Washington and Solvang, California are among the few other places to find kringles in the U.S.

The shape of the kringle has given name to a similarly entangled feature found in some proteins, the so-called Kringle domain.

[edit] References

1. ^ See Danish colonization of the Americas
2. ^ New York Times, "Fare of the country: Wisconsin, Danish Pastry With a Classic Twist." By MARIALISA CALTA, July 9, 1989.