Lauren's Family Kringle -- Swedish Kringle (or Danish or Norwegian depending on the baker)!
Here is the recipe my Mom and Grandma Jo use for kringle. It is such a simple recipe, as you know, but they streamlined it even more. They don’t bother dividing the recipe into two strips—no time for that with 5 kids running around the farm! Rather, they form the dough into one long, wide shape to fit a 9 x 13” pan. So that is exactly what I do.
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons water cold!
The puff, or pate choux:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup flour
- 3 eggs
Glaze:
- Confectioners' sugar glaze (See notes)
- Sliced almonds
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut 1/2 cup butter into 1 cup flour. Add 2 tablespoons of ice water over mixture; mix with fork or pastry cutter, even your hands. Round into ball; divide in half (if you want to or just shape to fit a 9 x 13” pan). On a lined or ungreased baking sheet, shape each half into a strip, about 12 x 3 inches.
- In a saucepan, heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup of water to rolling boil. I like to cut the butter up in pieces to help the butter and water come to a boil evenly. Remove from heat and add almond extract. Add 1 cup flour all at once. Stir (with fervor!) until a ball form. Beat in eggs one at a time, until smooth. Don’t worry if the batter looks slimey. It will eventually all combine beautifully. Do know it is a very thick, gluey texture. Divide in half if you made 2 strips; spread each half evenly over strips leaving no border or edge. If you made just one large kringle do the same by spreading evenly over entire kringle.
- Bake about 60 minutes or until light brown. Cool and frost.
Notes
GLAZE:
Mix 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons room temperature butter, 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract or vanilla and 1-2 tablespoons hot water. Beat until smooth and smear.