How the Danish Kringle Became a Wisconsin Christmas Classic | Eater

"Opened in 1949 and described as one of the most prominent torchbearers of the city's kringle tradition, this family bakery regularly releases inventive holiday variations — including the cream cheese-and-toffee–stuffed Reindeer Tracks, the chocolatey Christmas Fudge, and the red-velvet–inspired Santa’s Secret — that sit alongside the more classic almond and apple fillings. The shop and its product have become so synonymous with the local pastry that its kringles are frequently stocked by national grocers during the winter season, and the pastry played a key role in the pastry's elevation to official state recognition in 2013. The Racinified version of the pastry it produces — a super soft but dense laminated dough rolled into a flat ring and blanketed with powdered-sugar glaze — elicits strong reactions: a commenter in the Denmark subreddit called the Racinified kringle “an American abomination” while another referred to its saccharine-sweet ingredients list as “violently American.”" - Trisha Gopal