Swedish Pastry Recipes

DANISH KRINGLE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cut 1 cup butter into flour until crumbly, leaving pea-sized chunks. Stir in sour cream, and mix well; dough will be very sticky. Form dough into a ball. Cover tightly, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Prepare the filling by combining 1 cup butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup chopped walnuts.
• Divide dough into three equal parts; return two parts to the refrigerator to keep cold. Quickly form 1/3 of the dough into a rectangle, and flour lightly. On a heavily floured surface, roll out to approximately 12x17 inches. Position lengthwise on the work surface. Along the long edges of the dough rectangle, use a sharp knife to cut 4 inch long angled lines about 1/2 inch apart. Spoon 1/3 of the filling along the length of the rectangle's uncut center. Alternating from one side of the dough to the other, fold each 1/2 inch wide strip towards the center, crisscrossing the filling in a braid-like fashion. Lightly press together the ends of the strips to seal. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the remaining walnuts. Repeat with remaining ingredients to form 3 braided danishes. Arrange danishes on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool for approximately 30 minutes. While the danishes are cooling, prepare the icing: mix confectioners sugar and water until smooth. Drizzle in fine streams over warm danishes.

SWEDISH KRINGLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• To make the dough cut 1/2 cup butter into 1 cup flour using a knife or pastry blender. Add water as needed and mix until crumbly, leaving pea-sized chunks. On a floured surface roll the dough out to 3 or 4 inches in width. Place on a rectangular cookie sheet.
• In a small saucepan over high heat, bring 1 cup water and 1/2 cup butter to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in flour; mix until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Stir in 1 teaspoon almond extract. Spread filling over dough.
• Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes. The pastry will fall a little as it cools.
• Meanwhile, combine confectioners' sugar, cream, 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon almond extract. Spread icing over pastry as soon as it's removed from the oven.

SWEDISH PASTRY

Steps:

• Crust:.
• Cut together margarine or butter with flour; stir in water. Dab this crumbly mixture on a cookie sheet in an "S" or "O" shape.
• Topping:.
• In a saucepan bring water to a boil and add margarine or butter and melt. Remove from heat and stir in flour. Stir until the mixture comes into a ball away from the edge of the pan. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the almond extract. Spoon on top of the crust mixture and spread to cover the edges. Bake in a 450 oven 10 minutes and lower oven to 350 and bake 20 minutes more.
• Mix glaze ingredients together - should be fairly thin. Remove pastry to serving dish and spoon glaze over all.

SWEDISH MEAT PIES

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble in the ground beef and add onion, parsley, allspice, dill, nutmeg and grated potatoes. Cook and stir until the meat is browned. Drain any excess grease. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese until melted. Set aside to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Mix in the shortening with a fork or pastry cutter until only pea sized lumps remain. Stir in sour cream a little bit at a time until the dough holds together. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface. Divide into four equal portions, and pat into balls. (If making 4, these are very large - could easily be made into 6 or even 8 meat pies.).
• Roll out each ball of dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Place a heaping 1/2 cup of filling onto each one. Fold over into half circles, and seal by moistening the edges with warm water and pressing together. Place on a baking sheet.
• Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

SWEDISH PASTRY RINGS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. In a large another large bowl, dissolve yeast and remaining sugar in warm water. Add milk, egg and crumb mixture; beat until well blended. Stir in currants. Cover and refrigerate overnight. , Line two baking sheets with foil and grease the foil; set aside. For filling, in a small bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy; stir in pecans. , Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 14x7-in. rectangle; spread filling to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seams to seal. , Place loaves seam side down on prepared pans; pinch ends together to form a ring. With scissors, cut from outside edge two-thirds of the way toward center of ring at 1-in. intervals. Separate strips slightly; twist to allow filling to show. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. , Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. , For glaze, in a small saucepan, cook butter over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle over pastry rings.

SWEDISH KRINGLE

Steps:

• Part 1: Cut butter into flour and add sufficient cold water to form into pie crust, divide into two balls. Flatten each into a 3" wide strip on cookie sheet.
• Part 2: Put water and butter in saucepan, and heat to boiling. Remove from stove and add flour all at once. Stir until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth each time. Add almond extract and spread onto the strips.
• Bake: 425 degrees F for 15 minutes.
• Then 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Cool and frost.
• Cut into 1" strips for serving.