Smørkringle med Gløgg-glasur (Danish Christmas Kringle with Mulled Wine Glaze)
- Yield: 1 large kringle (12–16 servings) 1x
Ingredients
Scale
Smørkringle Dough:
- 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
- ¼ cup (57g) water, lukewarm (110–115°F)
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (227g) heavy cream, room temp
- ¼ cup (57g) evaporated milk, room temp
- 3 egg yolks, room temp [1]
- 3 ½ cups (420g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Burlap & Barrel Cloud Forest Cardamom [2]
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, cold & cubed
Raisin & Almond Filling:
- 1 ½ cups (341g) water
- 1 ½ cups (240g) raisins
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ tsp Burlap & Barrel Cloud Forest Cardamom [2]
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups (227g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 3 Tbsp (42g) heavy cream
- ½ cup (60g) chopped almonds
Egg Wash:
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
Syrup Wash:
- 1–2 Tbsp Wood Stove Kitchen Mulling Syrup
Gløgg-glasur (Gløgg Glaze):
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp Wood Stove Kitchen Mulling Syrup
- 1 ½ cups (170g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
- pinch of salt
Topping Options:
- sliced almonds
- raisins
- candied peel [3]
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, gently mix together yeast, lukewarm water, and a pinch of sugar. Leave undisturbed for about 5 minutes until the mixture gets foamy.
- Mix in sugar, cream, evaporated milk, and egg yolks. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cardamom, and salt.
- Add cold, cubed butter to flour mixture, tossing around gently to coat. With pastry blender in one hand, cut in butter while rotating bowl in quarter-turns with your other hand. Stop once the pieces of butter are roughly pea sized. (You’ll want to have some that are a little bigger and some that are a little smaller.)
- In the centre of the dry ingredients, make a well, then pour in yeast mixture. Mix just until combined, making sure to hunt down any hidden pockets of flour.
- Wrap dough in cling film, then press into a fat patty. Place wrapped dough in fridge for 12 to 48 hours.
- At some point while your dough is resting, make the filling. In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Add raisins, cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes. Drain raisins and allow to cool.
- Using a hand mixer, cream butter in a large bowl. Add cardamom, salt, confectioners’ sugar, and cream. Beat on low until thoroughly combined. Using a silicone spatula, mix in raisins and chopped almonds. Set aside.
- When you’re ready to make your kringle, flour your work surface and rolling pin. Retrieve dough from fridge, place on your well-floured surface, and sprinkle top with a little bit of flour.
- Begin gently rolling out the dough into a square, making sure to pick up and rotate the dough every few rolls (as you are able). Continue rolling until you have a 24-inch square.
- Fold dough into thirds to create an 8" x 24" rectangle. (This is called a letter fold.) Roll out dough until it’s 36" long and ¼" thick.
- Spread the filling over pastry, leaving a 1-inch bare border. [4]
- Fold one long side of dough over the filling. Brush bare border of other long side with egg wash, then fold over to enclose the filling. Pinch long seam to tightly seal; also pinch closed the short ends of the dough. Gently flip kringle over so the seam is now on the bottom.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Carefully transfer kringle to baking sheet, forming it into an oval. Brush the two ends with egg wash, then gently tuck one slightly under the other, pinching dough together to connect.
- Cover with cling film, place in a warm spot, and allow to rise for about 45 minutes. (The dough will only puff up a wee bit; it doesn’t double in bulk at this stage.)
- Heat oven to 375°F.
- After proofing, brush kringle with egg wash. Bake for 20–25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and allow kringle to cool somewhat.
- Brush kringle with 1–2 tablespoons of mulling syrup. Allow kringle to cool completely.
- Once your kringle is totally cool, make the gløgg glaze by whisking the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Pour glaze evenly over kringle. Top with sliced almonds, raisins, and/or candied peel. Allow kringle to sit at room temperature until glaze is set.
Notes
- Cold eggs are easier to separate, so separate ‘em as soon as you take ‘em out of the fridge.
- You may wish to grind this high-quality cardamom into a finer powder for baking purposes.
- Besides sliced almonds and raisins, we also topped our kringle with Kankitsu Labo dry candied amanatsu peels that we rough chopped.
- Since the filling is so full of raisins and chopped almonds, we used a medium cookie scoop to distribute the filling down the length of the dough. Then we used an offset spatula and our fingers to flatten and spread the filling into an even layer.
Adapted from: The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas
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