USA: Wisconsin - Kringle

 

Wisconsin Kringle is the state's official pastry and was brought over by Scandinavian settlers in the 19th century. Traditionally it has a nut filling such as almond or pecan but fruit fillings are also popular. It's especially eaten around Christmas, made in an oval shape and drizzled with white icing giving it a festive look.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

113g butter

4oz sour cream

1 small jar almond butter

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup icing sugar

Measure out the flour and butter into a bowl.

Using the tips of your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until you have breadcrumb like consistency.

Add the sour cream and stir to form a sticky dough.

Place this in the fridge for at least 5 hours (or overnight if possible).

When you're ready to make the Kringle take the dough out of the fridge and tip it onto a floured surface. Roll it out into a rough oval.

Spread the almond butter along the centre of the dough horizontally.

Turn in the sides around the almond butter.

Bake at 175 C for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.

Make up the icing by mixing the icing sugar and milk. Stir well until smooth and then drizzle over the Kringle. You can decorate with some chopped up nuts if you like. I used pecans.

This recipe turned out way better than I imagined. It's hard to tell in the picture but the pastry is of a Danish Pastry type. It's flaky, crumbly and melts in your mouth. The almond butter was an unusual taste compared to peanut butter that we're used to but I enjoyed how it had set a bit through baking. The pecans added a bit of crunch giving an overall very nice texture. Very enjoyable!