Makes 2 kringle
MY HUSBAND IS AN EXCEPTIONAL PARENT. I OFTEN FEEL LIKE I SHOULD STEP IT up and mother a bit harder—more kitchen table crafts, more Lego construction sessions on the carpet, exciting field trips to all the spectacular museums in the city—because he is always doing these things with the kids every chance he gets. He revels in it. It makes me look bad.
But at some point, I realized there are things I do with the kids that are extremely important to their personal development that he would never think to do. For instance, who was the parent who drove the older child all the way to Racine, Wisconsin, for a day trip we called the Kringle Krawl? And brought said child to four different bakeries in the city, all known for their kringle, to sample them all, grill the bakers at each place about their methods, and determine once and for all who makes the best dang kringle in all of Racine? It was not her father, I will tell you that right now. It was all me, exposing my child to the greatness of Wisconsin’s state pastry in a very scientific manner. Science, I tell you! Education! Artistry, history, and interpersonal skills! All wrapped into many, many layers of buttery pastry.
6 ounces/170 g almond paste
4 tablespoons/57 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup/30 g confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons well-beaten egg white
¼ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch of fine sea salt
1 batch Five-Finger Icing (here)
Position racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat it to 375°F/190°C. Line two 12 × 17-inch/30 × 43 cm baking sheets with parchment paper.
Prepare the almond filling: Combine all the filling ingredients, reserving a little of the beaten egg white for brushing the dough, in a medium bowl. Use a handheld mixer to beat everything together until smooth.
Prepare the dough: Lightly flour a work surface. Divide the dough in half. Roll out each half to a long, narrow rectangle of dough, 6 × 24 inches/15.25 × 61 cm. Spread ½ cup/170 g of the filling in an even strip down the center. Fold in 1 side lengthwise, over the filling. Using a pastry brush, slick the entire open border of dough with the reserved beaten egg white, on both the long end and the 2 short ends. Fold the second long side over the first toward the center. Pinch and press the seam tightly, sinking your fingertips into the pastry, all along the seam to create a tight seal. Remeasure the length of dough—if it’s shrunken a bit, gently press and stretch it back out to at least 24 inches/61 cm. Form the strip of dough into an oval.
Insert 1 end of the pastry into the other by at least 1½ inches/3.8 cm, then tightly pinch and press the seam together. Flip the oval over, seam-side down, onto the prepared baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Repeat the filling and shaping with the second portion of dough. Allow the pastries to rise for 30 minutes, until slightly puffy. Brush all over with beaten egg white.
Bake until golden, about 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. As soon as the pans 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 baking pan with the other pastry on it—just set the pan on top of the pastry and press gently to eliminate the air pocket between the pastry and filling. Allow the pastries to cool completely on the pans set over wire racks before icing.
Ice the kringles with Five-Finger Icing. Let the icing dry before slicing and serving.
*My favorite kringle has an almond filling as seen here, but mix it up by using any store-bought jam, lemon curd, or prepared fruit filling you like—you’ll need 1 cup of filling to make 2 pastries.