Kringle
Encyclopedia
Kringle (ˈkrɪŋlə) is a Scandinavia
n pastry
, a Nordic variety of pretzel
, which arrived with Roman Catholic monks in the 13th century, especially in Denmark
. It developed further into several kinds of sweet, salty or filled pastries.
In Danish
and Norwegian
, the word is kringle, plural kringler; Estonian
: kringel, plural kringlid; Swedish
: kringla, plural kringlor; Icelandic
: kringla, plural kringlur; Finnish
: rinkeli. The word originates from the Old Norse
kringla, meaning ring or circle. The shape of the kringle has given name to a similarly entangled feature found in some protein
s, the so-called Kringle domain
.
In the Netherlands
, a particular type of sweet kringle is well known under the Dutch
name krakeling.
In Denmark, kringle denotes the pretzel
-like knotted shape rather than the pretzel pastry type. Kringles may be made from puff pastry
(like Danish pastry
) or yeast
dough, filled with remonce
or marzipan
and raisin
s, sprinkled with coarse sugar, nut flakes or iced.
There are small salty kringles, saltkringler, being the Danish word for pretzels, and kommenskringler which are half-hand-sized breads in the kringle shape, made from unsweetened yeast dough with caraway
seeds. Sukkerkringler are similar, sweet pretzels, sprinkled with sugar instead of caraway.
Kringles are pastries with a long history in Denmark, and are still popular items in modern Danish bakeries. The kringle symbol is one of the few ancient guild
signs still used and a traditional golden kringle sign is often hung outside bakery shops.
, 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.
Racine, Wisconsin
, has historically been a center of Danish-American culture. Kringle and Danish culture are an important part of Racine's cultural identity, and several local bakeries make and ship hundreds of thousands of kringles each year.
The Ballard
area of Seattle, Washington
, Solvang, California
, central Iowa and Burr Ridge, Illinois
, are among other places to find kringles in the U.S. In 2005, Dana College
in Blair, Nebraska
, held a Kringle Kontest, which was won by Kirsten's Danish Bakery in Burr Ridge, Illinois. Kirsten may have had a slight advantage in being the only Danish bakery in the U.S. that employs bakers trained in Denmark using traditional methods.
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n pastry
Pastry
Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...
, a Nordic variety of pretzel
Pretzel
A pretzel is a type of baked food made from dough in soft and hard varieties and savory or sweet flavors in a unique knot-like shape, originating in Europe...
, which arrived with Roman Catholic monks in the 13th century, especially in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. It developed further into several kinds of sweet, salty or filled pastries.
In Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
and Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, the word is kringle, plural kringler; Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
: kringel, plural kringlid; Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
: kringla, plural kringlor; Icelandic
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
: kringla, plural kringlur; Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
: rinkeli. The word originates from the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
kringla, meaning ring or circle. The shape of the kringle has given name to a similarly entangled feature found in some protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
s, the so-called Kringle domain
Kringle domain
Kringle Domains are autonomous protein domains that fold into large loops stabilized by 3 disulfide linkages. These are important in protein-protein interactions with blood coagulation factors...
.
In the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, a particular type of sweet kringle is well known under the Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
name krakeling.
Denmark
Pretzel
A pretzel is a type of baked food made from dough in soft and hard varieties and savory or sweet flavors in a unique knot-like shape, originating in Europe...
-like knotted shape rather than the pretzel pastry type. Kringles may be made from puff pastry
Puff pastry
In baking, a puff pastry is a light, flaky, leavened pastry containing several layers of fat which is in solid state at 20 °C . In raw form, puff pastry is a dough which is spread with solid fat and repeatedly folded and rolled out and used to produce the aforementioned pastries...
(like Danish pastry
Danish pastry
Danish pastry is a sweet pastry which has become a specialty of Denmark and neighbouring Scandinavian countries and is popular throughout the industrialized world, although the form it takes can differ significantly from country to country...
) or yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
dough, filled with remonce
Remonce
Remonce is a Danish pastry filling or topping made from creamed butter and sugar, sometimes flavored with cinnamon, marzipan or nuts. ,...
or marzipan
Marzipan
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...
and raisin
Raisin
Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...
s, sprinkled with coarse sugar, nut flakes or iced.
There are small salty kringles, saltkringler, being the Danish word for pretzels, and kommenskringler which are half-hand-sized breads in the kringle shape, made from unsweetened yeast dough with caraway
Caraway
Caraway also known as meridian fennel, or Persian cumin is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe and Northern Africa....
seeds. Sukkerkringler are similar, sweet pretzels, sprinkled with sugar instead of caraway.
Kringles are pastries with a long history in Denmark, and are still popular items in modern Danish bakeries. The kringle symbol is one of the few ancient guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
signs still used and a traditional golden kringle sign is often hung outside bakery shops.
United States
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 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.
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
, has historically been a center of Danish-American culture. Kringle and Danish culture are an important part of Racine's cultural identity, and several local bakeries make and ship hundreds of thousands of kringles each year.
The Ballard
Ballard, Seattle, Washington
Ballard is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of Seattle, Washington. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, ; to the east by Greenwood, Phinney Ridge and Fremont ; to the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and to the west by Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. The neighborhood’s...
area of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Solvang, California
Solvang, California
Solvang is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is one of the communities that make up the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 5,245 at the 2010 census, down from 5,332 at the 2000 census...
, central Iowa and Burr Ridge, Illinois
Burr Ridge, Illinois
Burr Ridge is a suburb of Chicago, in Cook and DuPage Counties, Illinois. The population was 11,560 at the 2008 census.-Geography:Burr Ridge is located at ....
, are among other places to find kringles in the U.S. In 2005, Dana College
Dana College
Dana College is a now defunct baccalaureate college located in Blair, Nebraska. Its rural 150-acre campus is approximately 25 miles northwest of Omaha, and overlooks a portion of the Missouri River Valley....
in Blair, Nebraska
Blair, Nebraska
Blair is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,990 at the 2000 census. Blair is a part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
, held a Kringle Kontest, which was won by Kirsten's Danish Bakery in Burr Ridge, Illinois. Kirsten may have had a slight advantage in being the only Danish bakery in the U.S. that employs bakers trained in Denmark using traditional methods.