Whether or not you’re from Wisconsin, a kringle is a must-try dessert. It’s perfect for the holidays, and this almond raspberry kringle is made with pie dough for a flaky, buttery dessert.
It wasn’t until I moved to Minnesota that I truly understood the magnificence of Scandinavian baking. There are countless Nordic bakeries all over the Twin Cities, and each has its own special offerings.
One day, my BFF excitedly brought me a pastry from one such bakery and challenged me to recreate it. I was completely smitten with this flaky, rich, puffy creation layered with sweet icing. My mind was in a swirl trying to figure how to make it.
After doing some research and asking anyone who would listen, I found out it was called a kringle! It’s an extravagant Scandinavian pastry usually made around the holidays. I
For my raspberry kringle, I created the flakiness by layering pie dough and an almond paste Pâte à Choux (cream puff dough), which I then topped off with a luxurious layer of creamy raspberry frosting. Heaven.
What Is A Kringle?
The classic Danish kringle is a flaky, buttery pastry filled with sweets like fruit, icing or cream cheese. You would be likely to find the original in Copenhagen, Denmark, but the American version has become a staple in Wisconsin.
Racine is often considered the modern “home” of the kringle, and you can also find the popular O&H Kringle in stores, or at the flagship O&H Danish Bakery.
Regardless of where you get yours, and find it filled with cinnamon and apple or raspberry and almond (like mine!), the flaky, tender pastry is familiar and homey dessert!
Almond Raspberry Kringle Recipe
Ingredients
Pie Dough
- 1 1/2 cup / 180g all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 10 Tbsp / 140g unsalted butter cold
- 1/4-1/3 cup water ice cold
Pâte à Choux
- 3/4 cup water
- 6 Tbsp / 85g unsalted butter
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 3/4 cup / 90g all-purpose flour
- 2 oz / 56g almond paste chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
- 4 eggs at room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup / 90g sliced almonds
- 1/4 cup / 50g pearl sugar
Raspberry Icing
- 1 1/2 cups / 180g confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tbsp butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup / 60ml cream more if needed for a drizzle consistency
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or almond extract
- 3 Tbsp raspberry jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190℃. Lightly grease a 9-inch by 13-inch pan.
Make the Pie Dough
- Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. (You could also do this entire step by hand.) Add the butter to the flour in 3 parts, pulsing two to three times after each addition. Some of it will be completely blended into the flour and some will be in pea-sized pieces. Add the ice water to the dough 3 tablespoons at a time and pulse just to combine, until the dough barely starts to come together with no powdery flour.
- Pour the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper and press the dough together into a rectangle. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, roll the dough to a size that will nicely fit in your prepared pan. Freeze the dough while you prepare the next layer.
Make the Pâte à Choux
- In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a rapid simmer.
- Dump the flour in all at once and stir with a wooden spoon over low heat. The batter will come together as a thick dough, and the bottom of your pot will have a skim of dough stuck to it. Stir in the chopped almond paste. Stir and cook until it comes together in a smooth ball.
- Place the dough into the food processor. (There’s no need to clean the bowl from when you used it earlier.)
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each and scraping down the sides of the bowl, until it comes together in a smooth paste. Add the almond extract. The batter should be thick, but thin enough to spread easily.
- Remove the plastic from the frozen dough and spread the Choux paste evenly over the frozen crust. Evenly sprinkle on the sliced almonds and pearl sugar.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and very puffed. Allow to cool to room temperature in the baking pan. The kringle will seem to climb out of the pan while it bakes but will settle down as it cools.
Make the Raspberry Icing
- Stir together all the ingredients in a big bowl until it is smooth. Add more heavy cream as needed if the mixture is too thick to drizzle over the puffed kringle.
- Remove the cooled kringle from the pan, then drizzle it with the icing. Serve each piece with more icing.
