Butter-Pecan Kringle

Brother has been posting left and right showcasing his cooking abilities. I thought it was about time I posted a baking post. He's not the only one in the family who knows his way around a kitchen.

A couple of weeks ago Dave brought some pecans home from his office that were a gift from a vendor. The women in the office decided that the best thing to do with them was to send them home with Dave and let me bake something for them. I was all about that. Especially since that very week King Arthur's blog, The Baker's Banter, had showcased a recipe starring of all things pecans. It was meant to be.

Today's experiment in baking is a Butter-Pecan Kringle. From what I understand this is a Wisconsin treat found in many bakeries at Christmas time. Is that true, Brother? I read the blog post and determined that this recipe was doable. After reading through the comments I determined I would make one change involving my one of favorite products. More on that later.

The cast of characters minus that favorite product. More on that later.




First things first. I needed to make the base which is essentially a pie dough. It's then formed into a ring on a parchment covered baking sheet. Notice it is essential that an official '72 Reds ruler is used to make that perfect sized circle. Essential.




Next I made a pastry topping and spread it over my perfectly formed pastry ring. Thank you, '72 Reds ruler.




It baked in the oven for about an hour and came out a nice golden color. So far so good.




Now it was time for my secret ingredient.




The original recipe called for caramels. After reading through the blog comments it seemed that after the caramels were melted and spread on the kringle the resulting caramel topping was somewhat hard. Dulce de leche to the rescue. I'll just make my own caramel. The only problem was the boiling time. I decided to try three hours and see if it would thicken up enough to make a nice thick coating on the kringle. I opened my can and poured it on my perfectly formed pastry ring. Ummmm. Could have used some more boiling time. The taste was a ten, the spreading consistency a seven. I would have like it to stick a little bit more. The next time I will try boiling the milk for four hours.

After the caramel came the pecans.




One last step. A glaze drizzled over the top and my kringle was done.




I have to give it a nine. The next time I will try to make a thicker caramel and thicker glaze. Other than that though it was really good. I understand Dave's office really enjoyed it.

If you are interested in recreating this Wisconsin treat yourself the recipe can be found at the Baker's Banter, http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2009/11/30/oh-my-goodness-butter-pecan-kringle/

Happy Baking!