Kringle

The culinary pride of Racine, Wisconsin, kringle is a pastry made with the flaky dough known as wienerbrod, shaped in a large oval nearly the size of a horse collar. The pastry is filled with fruit preserves, cheese or nuts, baked, then iced with buttercream frosting or a clear sugar glaze. Large enough to feed six or eight coffee drinkers, it is served warm by the slice and, being a specialty of Wisconsin, with soft butter that is easy to spread for even further enrichment. Kringle was brought to America by Danish settlers over a century ago, and while Racine is its best-known home with at least three different bakeries that make it (and ship by mail), it also is found in Danish communities in Iowa, Illinois, California, and Washington state. Classic fillings include almond, pecan, and raspberry; in addition to these, Racine bakeries offer almond-macaroon, chocolate, date, apricot, apple, and a turtle kringle that is iced with chocolate and filled with rum-flavored caramel.