Old Danish Christmas Kringle

Old Danish Christmas Kringle (Dansk Smørkringle)

This month Stacey is sharing her favourite Christmas recipe.

With the Holidays comes traditions and with my family coming from both Dutch and German roots one of our favorite treats is Kringle.  For my family every Christmas morning after gifts we enjoy fresh from the oven Kringle.  Not only is it tasty but something that I can make in advance so Christmas morning all I need to do is put it in the oven while gifts are opened and spend time with my family.

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Recipe by Heather Baird - link to website Sprinkle Bakes

Begin this recipe one day ahead. This recipe calls for evaporated milk, which is easily confused with sweetened condensed milk because they are both canned. Evaporated milk is unsweetened. Be sure to get the right milk!

INGREDIENTS

 

Dough:

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/4 cup 60ml warm water, 105°-115°F

1/4 cup 60ml evaporated milk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 cup 50g granulated sugar

3 egg yolks

1 cup 240ml heavy whipping cream

3 1/2 cups 420g all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup 113g butter, cubed and chilled

Mixed nut filling:

1 cup 8 oz. can/package almond paste

1/2 cup 2 oz. chopped walnuts

1/2 cup 2 oz. chopped pecans

1/2 cup 56g powdered sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg white

Egg Wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Toppings:

1/4 cup 50g coarse sanding sugar

1 cup 113g confectioners’ sugar

2-4 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup 1 oz. chopped pecans

1/4 cup 1 oz. chopped walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS

 

1. Make the dough: Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a medium mixing bowl. Let the mixture stand 5 minutes until bubbly. Add the milk, cardamom, 1/4 cup sugar, egg yolks and cream. Stir well and set side.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour and salt. Place the cubed butter on top of the flour and pulse until pea-sized pieces of butter form. Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the yeast mixture to the flour. Mix together just until the ingredients are moistened. Using your hands, briefly knead in any of the flour that didn’t incorporate. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough overnight.

3. Make the filling: Break the almond paste into pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and knead together with your hands. The mixture will be thick.

4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knead together any loose dough pieces. Dough will be firm at first, so pound it flat with a rolling pin until it loosens a bit and becomes pliable. Roll to 24-inches square, picking up parts of the dough and spreading flour underneath intermittently so that it does not stick to the work surface.

5. Fold dough into thirds to make a long narrow strip. Roll the strip to about 36-inches in length, to about 1/4 inch thickness. Optional: Trim the ragged edges of the pastry to neaten the presentation. I removed about 1/2 inch of dough on all edges.

6. Place the filling in the center of the dough. The filling will be thick and clumpy, so place it by the handfuls or use two spoons – one spoon to pick up the filling and another to scrape it from the spoon and onto the dough.

7. Brush the long edges of the dough with egg wash and fold each edge towards the center, overlapping one edge of the dough slightly over the other (see video) and completely encasing the filling.

8. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet, and place it seam-side-down. Gently form the length of dough to a wreath shape that overlaps slightly at the ends. Use egg wash to secure the ends together (see video). Cover the entire pastry with egg wash and immediately sprinkle with coarse sugar. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let proof in a warm place for 45 minutes.

9. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake the pastry for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet and then transfer to a large serving platter.

10. Make the glaze: Place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until a thick glaze forms. (I used 2 tbsp.) Add the vanilla and pinch of salt. Whisk together. Pour over the warm kringle. Immediately scatter chopped pecans and walnuts over the wet glaze.

Serve immediately or the glaze will set in about 30 minutes (if you can wait that long for a bite!).