Pastries

While zipping along in my car the other day, I heard a delightful report on Wisconsin Public Radio. The reporter was giving the lowdown on our two most important state pastries.

Make no mistake. We fear no calories here, we do not banish carbs and we know that sugar is not evil. Our state was flooded with European immigrants in the mid and late 1800s and they brought their superb baking skills with them. We are a state of multiple temptations.

However, until listening to WPR, I was not aware that we had an official state pastry. Our state legislators had so many to choose from…kolaches, potica, baklava, crullers and oliebollen. But on June 30, 2013, kringle, that delectable Danish oval of goodness, was named the Official State Pastry.

Racine, Wisconsin, is the epicenter of kringle bakeries, more specifically, the Danish section of town known affectionately as Kringleville. Families here often pledge allegiance to one specific bakery. This explains why I will always enjoy kringle from Bendtsen’s when I visit my cousin in her Kringleville home. Her excellent review of Racine kringles follows this blog.

The original kringle was shaped like a pretzel. In America it has morphed into an oval consisting of 32 layers of buttery, flaky dough with a variety of fillings. Choices include pecan, almond, apple, cherry, strawberry, raspberry and cream cheese. There’s something for every sweet tooth.

Wisconsin is equally famous for another sensational pastry, but it is a seasonal favorite. That would be the Wisconsin State Fair cream puffs, the must-have snack of all the fair-goers. This tradition dates all the way back to 1924.

Wisconsin is “America’s Dairyland” and the Fair’s job is to promote our agricultural products such as CREAM. To that end, 400,000 cream puffs will be baked and consumed in 11 days. More than a ton of whipping cream will be used.

I can only conclude that we are a very sweet state. Visit us, but don’t bring your scale.

Here is my cousin’s review:

The best is Bendtsen’s, I believe the only one still totally hand-made. It’s the flakiest. I believe still in the original family. Once visited by the Food Channel. Bendtsen’s website

Best known is O&H, family owned but it’s a factory, shipped all over, sells at Trader Joe’s and on QVC. They have very creative flavors (like Wisconsin with cranberries etc). Unfortunately, it can’t mimic the flakiness of a true kringle, it’s more like a coffee cake. And $23.99? Plus $9.99 for shipping! Are they spinning gold flakes in that kringle?

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