Christmas Kringle Food

KRINGLE

Steps:

• For the Topping:
• For the Dough: In a large measuring cup or medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast in the water to soften. Heat the cream to 100 degrees F and add it to the yeast along with the egg yolks and egg white. Whisk to combine.
• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, salt, cardamom, and flour. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is the size of tiny peas. This process also can be done easily in a food processor. Add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not mix too much because you do not want to soften the cold butter. You should see small flour-coated pieces of butter throughout the dough.
• Overnight rise: Put the dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and a tightly woven towel and refrigerate 12 hours or overnight.
• Shape: Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide in half. Roll each half into a 24-inch square. Fold the dough in half from top to bottom, then fold the dough in half from side to side to make a 12-inch square. Cover with a towel and let rest 10 minutes.
• Working with 1 square of dough at a time, roll the dough into a 12 by 24-inch rectangle. Spread half of filling evenly over two-thirds of the dough, filling an area of 8 by 24 inches. Fold the portion of dough that has no filling onto the center third of filled dough, then fold the other third of dough to the center, forming a 4 by 24-inch rectangle.
• Place the dough seam side down on a parchment-lined or well-greased baking sheet. Bring the ends of the dough almost together (about 4 inches apart) to form a horseshoe. Repeat with the second piece of dough. If you cannot get both Kringles on a baking sheet, cover the second one and put it in the refrigerator until the first Kringle finishes baking; then bake.
• Second Rise: Cover the with a tightly woven towel and let rise for 1 hour.
• Preheat Oven: About 10 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Final Preparation: For the topping, beat the egg white with a whisk or fork until frothy and brush over the loaves. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and then granulated sugar.
• Bake and Cool: Bake for 25 minutes until the internal temperature of the bread reached 190 degrees. Immediately remove the bread from the baking sheet and place on a rack to cool.
• In a medium bowl, stir the sugar, apples, pecans, butter, and cinnamon together until well mixed. Use to fill 2 loaves.

MARZIPAN CHRISTMAS KRINGLE (JULESKRINGLE)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, stir together the milk and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and let stand for 10 minutes to dissolve. Stir in cream.
• In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and cardamom. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or pinching with your fingers until it is a course mealy texture. Stir in the yeast mixture until well blended. Pat into a ball, flatten slightly, then wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
• To make the filling, mix the almond paste, almonds, sugar, cinnamon and almond extract using an electric mixer until evenly blended. It may be crumbly.
• Roll the chilled dough out into a 2 inch wide and 24 inch long rectangle. Spread the filling to within 2 inches of the sides and roll up into a tube. Cover your work surface with sugar, and roll the tube of dough in the sugar to coat thoroughly. Roll and stretch the dough out to form a long rope about 40 inches long. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and shape into a pretzel shape.
• Brush the top of the pretzel with egg white and sprinkle with almonds. Cover loosely with a towel and let rise for 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Bake the kringle in the preheated oven until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cut into slices to serve.

KRINGLE

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: In the bowl of a food processor, combine all-purpose flour, bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Pulse a few times to blend. Add butter and pulse 10 times, or until butter chunks are broken down by about half.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and egg. Scrape flour mixture into the bowl and use a flexible spatula to stir together until nearly all the flour is moistened. Use your hand to quickly knead the dough to bring it together. Transfer dough to a work surface, pat into a rectangle, and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough into a roughly 8-by-15-inch rectangle. Fold the two short sides of the rectangle toward the center, folding the rectangle into thirds, like a letter. Rotate dough 90 degrees, then roll out again into a 8-by-15-inch rectangle; fold into thirds again. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes.
• Roll the dough out into a roughly 8-by-15-inch rectangle, fold into thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes two more times. At this point, wrapped dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 days, or freezer for 2 months.
• Prepare the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine almond paste, butter, confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons of the egg whites and the salt. Beat to combine, then beat in lemon juice, adding more to taste, if you like.
• Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Unwrap the dough and cut in half.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll each half into a 6-by-24-inch rectangle. Spread 1/2-cup filling on each in an even strip down the center (about 2 1/2-inches wide).
• Fold one long side over the filling, leaving the remaining third of the dough exposed. Use a pastry brush to the open border of dough with reserved egg whites on both the long side and two short ends. Fold the second long side over the first; pinch and press the seam tightly along the length and at both short ends, sinking your fingertips into the pastry to create a tight seal.
• Remeasure dough to make sure it's at least 24 inches long; if necessary, stretch it back out. Form into an oval, then tuck one end into the other. Pinch and press the seam together, then transfer oval to prepared sheet pans and flip over so it's seam-side down. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 30 to 45 minutes, or until slightly puffy.
• When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush pastry with more egg white, then bake until golden, about 25 minutes, rotating sheet pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through.
• As soon as the pastries come out of the oven (and the pastries are piping hot!), do something that seems a little crazy: Compress each pastry slightly by using the sheet pan with the other pastry on it, setting the sheet pan on top of the pastry and pressing gently to eliminate the air pocket between the pastry and filling. Transfer the sheet pans to wire racks and allow pastries to cool completely.
• Prepare the icing: In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, vanilla, fine sea salt and 4 teaspoons water. Spread icing over tops of the kringles. Let icing dry before slicing and serving.

DANISH KRINGLE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cut 1 cup butter into flour until crumbly, leaving pea-sized chunks. Stir in sour cream, and mix well; dough will be very sticky. Form dough into a ball. Cover tightly, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Prepare the filling by combining 1 cup butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup chopped walnuts.
• Divide dough into three equal parts; return two parts to the refrigerator to keep cold. Quickly form 1/3 of the dough into a rectangle, and flour lightly. On a heavily floured surface, roll out to approximately 12x17 inches. Position lengthwise on the work surface. Along the long edges of the dough rectangle, use a sharp knife to cut 4 inch long angled lines about 1/2 inch apart. Spoon 1/3 of the filling along the length of the rectangle's uncut center. Alternating from one side of the dough to the other, fold each 1/2 inch wide strip towards the center, crisscrossing the filling in a braid-like fashion. Lightly press together the ends of the strips to seal. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the remaining walnuts. Repeat with remaining ingredients to form 3 braided danishes. Arrange danishes on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool for approximately 30 minutes. While the danishes are cooling, prepare the icing: mix confectioners sugar and water until smooth. Drizzle in fine streams over warm danishes.

CHRISTMAS KRINGLE PASTRY RECIPE

Steps:

• Add the raspberries, ⅔ cup of cane sugar, brown sugar, and almond extract to a small pot. Cook on medium-low heat for 12 minutes, stirring frequently, breaking down the raspberries as you go.
• Cool the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
• Chop the butter into ½-inch cubes and add them to a food processor, along with the flour. Pulse until the butter and flour are completely mixed. Then, pour the mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining cane sugar, salt, yeast, milk, and egg, and beat with a hand or stand-up mixer until smooth.
• Cover and put this in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Lay the dough on a large surface and roll it out to 25 inches long and 10 inches wide - use a measuring tape to make sure you have it big enough. Trim the edges with a pizza cutter to make them straight.
• Spoon the raspberry filling into the center of the dough, then fold each side over the dough and seal the seam with your fingers.
• Join the 2 ends to form a circle or oval shape and seal them together by pinching the dough. Carefully flip the circle over so that the seam is on the bottom. Spread any leftover raspberry filling over the top and then sprinkle the almonds across the top. The filling on top will help the almonds stick.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cover the Kringle and let it sit for 45 minutes to let the yeast activate.
• Bake the pastry for 28 minutes or until the top starts to get golden brown. Take it out of the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes.
• Mix the powdered sugar, water, and vanilla together to make the glaze. When the Kringle is cool, drizzle the icing over and then quickly sprinkle the red and green sprinkles so they stick to the icing.
• Serve the Kringle pastry.

KRINGLE (COOKIES)

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar add egg and villa and beat well.
• Add sour cream and mix well.
• Sift together baking soda, powder and flour.
• Add to creamed mixture and mix well.
• Chill overnite.
• Take a teaspoon of dough and roll out in your hands into a snake about 8-inches long.
• Form into a "Figure 8" shape on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
• Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Remove and cool completely.

CHRISTMAS GINGER KRINGLES

Steps:

• Beat butter and dark brown sugar.
• Beat in egg and molasses, (will look curdled).
• Beat in flour, soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
• Chill til firm.
• Roll into 1 1/4" balls.
• Roll into colored sugar.
• Bake 10-12 minutes at 350° on ungreased cookie sheet til cracked on top but soft.
• Cool on wire rack. Do not over bake.
• Store airtight.