Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Kringel
A twisted, braided sweet bread swirled with cinnamon, the celebratory loaf of the Estonian coffee table.
Estonian · medium · serves 10
prep 40 min · cook 25 min
~330 cal · 7g protein · 50g carbs · 11g fat · 1g fiber · 12g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
Kringel is Estonia's sweet braided bread, a fixture of birthdays, name days, and any gathering worth marking. Related to the sweet breads found across the Nordic and Baltic world, the Estonian version is typically shaped into a twisted wreath.
A soft, enriched yeast dough is rolled out, spread with cinnamon and sugar, then rolled up, sliced lengthwise, and twisted so the cinnamon swirl shows on the outside before being joined into a ring. Baked golden and sometimes finished with a light glaze or nuts, it is tender, fragrant, and made for sharing over coffee.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 10
4 cups flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
2 tsp instant yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
1
Make a soft enriched dough with the flour, milk, butter, egg, yeast, cardamom, and half the sugar, and let rise until doubled.
2
Roll out, spread with butter, the remaining sugar, and cinnamon, and roll up into a log.
3
Slice the log lengthwise and twist the two halves together, cut sides up, into a ring.
✎ Chef’s note
Cut the rolled log down its length and keep the cut sides facing up as you twist. That is what exposes the cinnamon swirl on the outside.
4
Let rise again, then bake at 375F (190C) until golden, about 25 minutes.
Estonian celebration tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tartu. Mulgikapsad is the dish of this corner of the country: sauerkraut cooked slowly with fatty pork and, crucially, pearl barley, which is what separates it from every other cabbage and pork dish in the Baltic. It takes its name from the Mulgi region of southern Estonia.
🗺️
Estonia. Mulgikapsad comes from the Mulgi region in the south and is not simply pork and sauerkraut: pearl barley goes in with them and cooks down until the whole thing thickens. Verivorst is pork blood with barley groats, onion and marjoram, made at Christmas and served with soured cream and lingonberry jam.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Estonia
MulgikapsadSauerkraut braised with pork and pearl barley until soft, sweet, and deeply savory, southern Estonia's pride.
KamaToasted grain-and-pea flour stirred into kefir or buttermilk with a little honey, a uniquely Estonian breakfast.
KiluvõileibAn open rye sandwich of salty Baltic sprats with egg and onion, a classic Estonian and Baltic bite.
Browse all Estonia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Rolling pin.
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
Make it a Estonia meal
MulgikapsadDinner
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kringel?
A twisted, braided sweet bread swirled with cinnamon, the celebratory loaf of the Estonian coffee table.
Where does Kringel come from?
Kringel is a Estonian dish from Tartu, Estonia.
Can Kringel be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kringel recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kringel safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kringel take to make?
About 65 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 10.
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