Kringle

A community recipe by charlie&henry's_mom

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

Introduction

Flakey breakfast danish that may be a little time consuming but is not difficult to prepare. The traditional layering and folding of butter in the dough makes a light, flakey pastry that really seems like a professional bakery delivered it to your kitchen. It is most definitely worth every minute!

Ingredients

Serves: 6-8

For the Dough

1½ cups softened butter
1 packet yeast
¼ cup warm water
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon lemon essence
1 medium egg
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

For the Toppings

4 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons turbinado sugar
4 tablespoons sliced almonds

For the Butterscotch Filling

1 cup almond paste
1 cup brown sugar
⅓ cup butter
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of cinnamon
½ medium egg white

Method

Kringle is a community recipe submitted by charlie&henry's_mom and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

Divide butter in half (each half will be 3/4 cup). Take one half and divide in half again. Spread each half into an 8-by-8 inch square on wax paper. Wrap up like a present and chill thoroughly. Repeat with 2nd half of butter (3/4 cup). You will have 4 8-by-8 squares of butter.

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add lukewarm milk, sugar, salt, lemon extract and egg. Mix well. Add flour and mix until smooth. Divide dough in half.

Roll 1st half of dough on well floured board to an 8-by-12 inch rectangle. Place 1 square of chilled butter on two-thirds of dough rectangle. [It may be a little tricky to remove butter from wax paper. The butter will most likely break apart into smaller pieces which doesn't make a difference in the outcome of the dough; just reassemble on top of dough.]

Fold uncovered third of dough over the middle third, then fold the remaining third over the top. Turn 90 degrees and again fold one end over middle third and fold remaining third over top, making a square of nine layers. Wrap tightly in wax paper and refrigerate dough 30 minutes.

Repeat process with 2nd half of dough. Roll dough again to an 8-by-12 inch rectangle. Add second square of chilled butter and fold again as before. This makes 18 layers. Refrigerate dough 2 hours. [Dough may be frozen at this point. Thaw in refrigerator overnight to proceed with recipe.]

Repeat with 2nd half of dough. Cut dough into two equal pieces. Lightly roll one piece at a time on lightly floured board, until piece is about 20-by-6 inches. Spread center third of dough with half of prepared filling. Fold one of the long edges to the middle and dust off any loose flour. Moisten other edge and fold over the top to cover filling. Dust off any loose flour. Seal well. Repeat with other half.

Place Kringle on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Form 2 doughs into large oval by pressing ends together (if baking sheet is large enough) or 2 separate semi-ovals or twist-crest shapes.

Flatten dough slightly with palms of hands. Repeat with other half. Cover with wax paper or clean towel and leave 1 hour at room temperature.

Brush tops with milk, sprinkle with sugar and almonds and bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat process with other dough, or leave frozen. Recipe makes 4 Kringles total, or 2 very large oval shaped Kringles.