Krendel (Pretzel Shaped Russian/ Ukrainian Fruit Filled Bread)

Krendel is a Fruit filled Russian / Ukrainian yeasted bread made for Christmas.It is a rich and delicious bread that is also served on All Saints day and other family gatherings.

This bread is is usually Pretzel shaped but sometimes it just coiled after rolling like a jelly rolling without making a pretzel.The Krendel can be served dusted with icing sugar / glazed and topped with nuts .

I also read that it is not made very often at home as it is involves extra labor when compared to other breads.

We baked this in Aparna’s We Knead To Bake # 34 and from her notes this is what I learnt.In the Russian orthodox tradition,the name day is more important than the birthday and the name day is celebrated. The name day which is considered a holy day is the feast day of the saint after whom the person is named .There is usually a visit to the church and later there us a celebration party where this Krendel is the highlight of the party.

At Christmas, this is made to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

This bake is supposed to be of German origin and the name is supposed to be a corruption of the German Kringle.

I halved the original recipe. So to get a large Krendel, double the quantity of ingredients.

I used:

For the dough

All purpose Flour – 1 1/2 – 2 cups
Instant Yeast-1 teaspoon
Unsalted Butter-25 grams
Honey- 1 tablespoon
Fresh cream – 1/8 cup
Luke warm milk- 1/4 cup
Vanilla essence- 1 teaspoon
Salt -1/4 teaspoon

For the filling

Apple juice- 150ml
Apple-1,peeled ,cored and finely chopped
Butter- 10 grams
Raisins- 1/4 cup
Glazed cherries- 10, chopped
Sugar- 1 teaspoon

To spread on the Dough

Melted butter
Cinnamon sugar – 1 tablespoon

For Dusting the krendel

Icing sugar- as needed

Let us make the filling first.

Take all the ingredients mentioned under filling in a pan and bring to boil. Simmer and cook till you get a jam like consistency.Remove from pan and let it cool  before using in the recipe.

To make the dough

Take the ingredients under dough and bring the dough together. Add a little more milk if needed.The dough should be slightly sticky.Transfer the dough onto a board and knead well for 10 minutes. Transfer into an oiled bowl and cover loosely and let it double in size.

Once the dough has risen to double its quantity, punch back and again knead for 10 minutes on a wooden board and once again place inside an oiled bowl and leave aside to double.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle and brush with melted butter in the center leaving a 1″ gap aroud the edges. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and spread  the fruit mixture over it.

Roll it like a jelly roll and shape like a pretzel.Make sure to tuck the ends properly.Place on a greased baking tray and cover loosely and let it rise till it looks puffed up.[It took 20 minutes for my dough.]

The dough after it has the ‘puffed look’.  Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes or till the top looks golden brown in color.Once done, remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.Dust with icing sugar once cooled.

Slice and enjoy….

Note:

• The baking time will vary if you choose to double the quantity.
• If the dough is rolled very thin, then it will not hold shape after it rises. Also too much filling will cause deformation in shape.
• The original recipe uses dried figs,dried apricots,prunes. 
• You can use the following recipe to glaze the Krendel

This is also a part of
Bake-a-thon 2015