Kliņģeris

Ingredients

Dough

• 800 gstrong white flour
• 150 gsugar
• 12 gdried yeast
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 350 mlwarm milk
• 3egg yolks
• 150 gbutter, softened
• a good pinch of saffron
• steeped in warm milk
• 1 teaspoonground cardamom

To fill

• 200 graisins
• soaked in warm water
• 100 gchopped almonds, optional
• 50 gcandied peel, optional

To finish

• 1beaten egg, to brush
• 50 gflaked almonds
• 2 tablespoonspearl sugar
• or granulated sugar

To serve

• with candles pressed into it
• coffee or tea
• at name days and birthdays

Directions

1. Butter, egg yolks, milk and sugar all go in. That makes it soft, rich and slow to rise. Allow far more time than for a plain bread. Crush the saffron threads between your fingers.
2. Put the threads into a small bowl. Pour on a little of the warm milk. Let them steep for twenty minutes. Saffron needs liquid to release its colour. Put the raisins into a small bowl. Cover them over with warm water. Let them plump up for twenty minutes. Drain them and pat them all dry. Dry raisins draw water from the dough.
3. Warm the rest of the milk gently. Stir the yeast and a spoon of sugar in. Let it stand until it foams up. Give it about ten minutes to foam. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the ground cardamom to it. Make a well in the middle of it.
4. Add the egg yolks to the well. Pour in the yeast milk and the saffron milk. Bring it together into a soft dough. Adding the butter is done separately. Knead the dough for about five minutes first. Add it in small pieces at a time. Butter added at the start slows gluten forming. Keep working and it comes back together. Kneading it takes real patience.
5. Knead it for a further twelve minutes. It should become smooth and very elastic. Put the dough in a large oiled bowl. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm. Let it roughly double in size. Give it about two full hours there.
6. Flatten it out on the work surface. Scatter the drained raisins over it. Add the almonds and peel if using them. Fold it over and knead them through. Roll the dough into one long rope. Make it about eighty centimetres long.
7. Keep the middle thicker than the ends. The thick middle becomes the wide curve. Lay the rope in a wide U shape. Twist them once around one another. Bring them back down to the curve.
8. Press them firmly onto the thick part. Press them very firmly to hold. Use two hands and a wide board. Cover it loosely with a cloth. Let it prove for about an hour. It should look visibly puffed. Brush it all over with beaten egg.
9. Scatter flaked almonds over it. Scatter pearl sugar over that. Heat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees. Bake it for about thirty minutes. Turn the tray halfway through. Judging it takes a look and a tap. Cover it loosely with foil if it darkens. The inside still needs the full time.
10. Let it cool for at least an hour. It is fragile while still hot. Set it on a large board or platter. Press candles into the thick curve. Cut it into thick slices across the rope. Serve coffee or tea alongside. It keeps three days in a sealed bag.

Technique

• The pretzel was the sign of the baker’s guild, hung outside bakeries as a trade symbol across northern Europe, and sweet pretzel-shaped breads followed it; kringle, kringel and klingeris are all that same idea, and klingeris comes directly from the Baltic German baking inheritance in Latvia.
• Roll the dough into a rope with the middle deliberately thicker than the ends, since the thick middle becomes the wide curve and the thin ends become the crossed part; an even rope gives a clumsy looking pretzel.
• This is a heavily enriched dough where fat coats the flour and sugar competes with the yeast for water, so it rises far more slowly than a plain bread; the fruit is kneaded in after the first rise, since adding it early tears the gluten and weighs the dough down.

Substitutions

• Granulated sugar stands in for pearl sugar, though it melts rather than staying crunchy.
• Candied peel and chopped almonds are optional additions to the raisins.

Variations

• Some bakers fill it with a marzipan or nut paste along the rope.
• Kringel in Estonia and kringle in Denmark are the same tradition.
• It is carried to the table with lit candles in place of a birthday cake.

History

Brought to the table with candles at Latvian name days and birthdays, a Baltic German baking inheritance.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kliņģeris?

Kliņģeris is a bread & pastry from Latvia: large saffron and raisin pretzel-shaped sweet bread carried in for birthdays. Brought to the table with candles at Latvian name days and birthdays, a Baltic German baking inheritance.

How long does Kliņģeris take to make?

Kliņģeris takes 45 minutes plus rising of preparation and 35 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes one large ring, serves 12. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Kliņģeris?

Yes, within limits. Granulated sugar stands in for pearl sugar, though it melts rather than staying crunchy. Candied peel and chopped almonds are optional additions to the raisins.