Kringle is a Scandinavian pastry, a Nordic variety of pretzel. Pretzels were introduced by Roman Catholic monks in the 13th century in Denmark, and from there they spread throughout Scandinavia and evolved into several kinds of sweet, salty or filled pastries, all in the shape of kringle.
In Danish and Norwegian, the word is kringle, plural kringler; Estonian: kringel, plural kringlid; Swedish: kringla, plural kringlor; Finnish: rinkeli; German: Kringel and Icelandic: kringla. The word originates from the Old Norse kringla, meaning ring or circle.In the Netherlands, a particular type of sweet kringle is well known under the Dutch name krakeling.
Kringle from Racine, Wisconsin
In the United States, kringles are hand-rolled from Danish pastry dough (wienerbrød dough) that has been rested overnight before shaping, filling, and baking. Many sheets of the flaky dough are layered, then shaped into 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 and kringle making. A typical Racine–made kringle is a large flat oval measuring approximately 14 inches by 10 inches and weighing about 1.5 pounds.The kringle became the official state pastry of Wisconsin on June 30, 2013.[
