High Altitude Danish Almond Kringle (Smørkringle)
This traditional Danish almond kringle is made with soft, buttery yeast dough that's filled with almond paste and baked until golden, drizzled with vanilla icing and sprinkled with sliced almonds. Today's recipe makes one large kringle (12 inches in diameter) or two medium kringles (9 inches in diameter).
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Baking Sheet (13x18 inches for one large kringle or 15x20 inches for two medium kringles)
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Dough
- ⅔ cup whole milk
- 1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) instant or rapid rise yeast
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 ¼ cups bread flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Filling
- 8 oz almond paste (not almond pastry filling)
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk (save the leftover white for the egg wash)
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tbsp milk
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ - 2 tbsp milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
Dough
- Warm the milk until it reaches between 110-115F. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the warm milk with the yeast and 1 tsp of the granulated sugar. Let sit for about 5 minutes, until bubbly.
- Add the rest of the sugar, along with the eggs, butter, flour, cardamom, salt and vanilla.
- With the paddle attachment, beat the dough on medium speed for 2 minutes, until thick and smooth. If you don't have a mixer, you can beat the dough by hand with a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk until smooth.
- Scrape the dough into a greased bowl (one that's twice as big as the volume of the dough), cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight (or up to two days). The dough will slowly rise and expand in volume, but will not necessarily double in volume.
Filling
- When you're ready to assemble the kringle, make the filling.
- Grate the almond paste into a bowl. Add the sugar, butter and egg yolk.
- With a mixer (or by hand, if preferred), beat the filling for several minutes, until smooth.
Assembly
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. If making one large kringle, you can use a standard 9x18 inch baking sheet. If making two medium kringles, you'll need a larger baking sheet that's 15x20 inches.
- Turn the cold dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Use your hands to shape the dough into a rectangular log, then roll it out into a slab measuring 24 inches long and 6 inches in diameter. For two kringles, cut the dough in half, and roll each half out to 12 inches long and 6 inches in diameter.
- Spread the filling down the center of the slab, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border on each side and at the ends.
- Make the egg wash, by whisking together the egg white and milk.
- Fold one side of the dough over the filling. Brush the other side and the ends with the egg wash, then fold that side of the dough over, so the filling is completely enclosed, and the edges of dough overlap. Press the dough gently to seal it together.
- Turn the slab of dough over, so the seam is underneath and the top is smooth. Shape the dough into a ring or doughnut shape, bringing the two ends together. Tuck one end of the dough into the other, pressing the dough together and using more egg wash to seal them together.
- Gently transfer the kringle to the baking sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set in a warm place to rest until puffy, about 60-90 minutes.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Brush the dough all over with more of the egg wash.
- Bake the kringle for about 25-35 minutes (for one large kringle) or 20-25 minutes (two medium kringles) until golden brown, and a digital instant read thermometer inserted into the kringle reads 190F. If the dough cracks in areas or some of the filling leaks out, don't worry.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then add the icing.
Icing
- In a bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, until smooth and drizzly.
- Drizzle the icing all over the hot kringle. Before the icing sets, sprinkle it with the sliced almonds.
- Let cool for about 30 minutes, then slice and serve warm, or let cool completely to room temperature.
Notes
Store leftover kringle in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
After testing this recipe as one large kringle and two medium kringles, I recommend making two medium sized ones. The reason is simply that the smaller size makes them more manageable so that they'll fit onto a pretty serving plate. I had to cut and serve the larger one directly from the baking sheet since it was too large for any of my serving platters.
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