Christmas Kringle

Last May or June, the Evil PXE (pronounced Pixie) attended the last campus administrative meeting before everyone went on summer holidays. It's a time for all entities on our campus to let the other administrators know about upcoming projects and concerns that might affect other departments. He returned to our tiny office bearing two small paper plates with a frosted pastry on each. "I thought you might want to try this. One of the other managers made it."

My eyes lit up at the sight and I almost burst into tears. "You brought me Kringle?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. Do you want some?"

I gushed. "You brought me Kringle! My Mom only makes this at Christmas! I can't believe you brought me Kringle! Do you know how tough this is to make? Well, not really tough, just time-consuming compared to how quickly it gets eaten."

Last weekend we drove down to Eugene to spend Christmas with my Mom, the Social Butterfly. She called Mr. GoGoGo's house where we were staying, in a panic. "I can't find the Kringle recipe."

"But I rewrote it for you last Christmas when you made it," I continued, trying to keep my breathing regular.

"I've looked in the recipe box. It's not there. Don't you have a copy of it?"

At home, yes. "But I re-wrote it. On one of those new recipe cards CrafterKat made. The same time I did the Peanut Butter Fudge card."

"OOOOooooh! Then it's in the other recipe box. The one I don't use."

I exhaled slowly, relieved.

Christmas with my Mom was wonderful. And the Kringle one of the best ever. Even if I did forget to write down how much flour went into the pastry filling...

Christmas Kringle

Step I: Pie Dough

1 c. flour
1/3 c. butter
2 T. water

Mix the above ingredients like pie dough and then separate into two equal sections. Smooth each pile of dough into a long strip about three inches wide on a cookie sheet.

Step 2: Pastry Filling

1 c. water
1/2 c. butter
1. c. flour
3 eggs
1 T. almond flavoring

Bring the water and butter to boil. As you take from heat, add all of the flour at one time. Beat until smooth. Add one egg at a one time. Beat until smooth. Add the almond flavoring and beat until smooth again. Pile the filling onto the two pie dough strips, about one inch thick.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45-50 minutes.

Step 3: Frosting

1 c. powdered sugar
1 T. milk
1 T. butter
1 T. almond flavoring

Sliced almonds (traditional but optional)

Mix up the frosting ingredients and frost the Kringle pastry while it is still warm. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds.

Step 4: Aftermath

Eat. Go back for seconds. Then thirds. Wonder why Kringle is all gone.