Kleinur

Kleinur are a fried pastry that, in Iceland, also accompanies everyday coffee. A slit is cut in the center of a diamond of dough, and when one end is passed through it once, the flat dough becomes a twisted, three-dimensional shape. The holes and grooves left in the golden crust are not made by pressing the dough into a mold; they come from passing one end of the dough through the slit. One piece is called a kleina; several are kleinur.

A dough made with tangy dairy, twisted and fried

The dough is made from wheat flour, sugar, eggs, dairy, fat and similar ingredients. Jón Eberhardt’s recipe (the ingredient proportions and method) combines sour cream and baking soda with milk or buttermilk, and is flavored with nutmeg and vanilla. What characterizes this dough is the combination of tangy dairy with an ingredient for leavening.

Sour cream mixed with baking soda is added to the eggs and sugar, and then the milk and the dry ingredients are added alternately. The dough is brought together so that it is not too stiff but can still be rolled out and cut, and it is shaped only lightly on the work surface. Not adding too much flour and not continuing to mix vigorously help the inside turn out soft and tender when fried.

The dough is rolled out a few millimeters thick and cut into strips, which are then cut diagonally into diamonds. A single lengthwise slit is made in the center, and when one end is passed through and pulled, both sides twist and a narrow opening remains. Besides a dedicated cutting wheel called a kleinujárn, tools such as a pizza cutter may also be used. Keeping the width and length uniform also helps the pieces cook evenly when fried.

Cutting klejner, a related Danish pastry. The slit dough and a wave-edged tool are visible. Photo: fru_green, 2008-12-20, a related Danish pastry. Location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 2.0. Original image, no additional processing.

The pieces are placed in hot oil, turned partway through, and fried until golden on both sides. Animal fat was traditionally used, and today vegetable oil and similar fats may also be used. Once drained, each piece keeps the crunch of its thin edges and the softness of its slightly puffed, thicker center. Some people dust them with powdered sugar, but they are not covered with thick icing or cream; they are enjoyed with their holes and golden-brown color on view.

Frying klejner, a related pastry, in Holm, Denmark. Photo: Erik Christensen, 2014-12-06, Holm, Denmark. Original image / CC BY 3.0. Reduced-size version from the source. Any processing at the time of original publication is unknown; no additional processing this time.

Two slits recorded in a cookbook from 1800

As Sólveig Ólafsdóttir and Guðrún Hallgrímsdóttir explain on the University of Iceland’s knowledge website, Magnús Stephensen’s cookbook of 1800 preserves an old printed recipe. In it, instead of a single slit in the center, two slits were made, one on each side of the center. Even under the same name, the way the pastry is shaped has changed over time.

Old cutting wheels made of whale bone have also been recorded. The name has been linked to the German klein, “small,” which points to a connection with the fried-pastry traditions of northern and western Europe.

A Norwegian festive pastry and an Icelandic everyday treat

Norwegian fattigmann is also a pastry made by passing one end through a slit. In a Christmas recipe from the dairy company TINE, egg yolks and sugar, whipped cream, cognac and spices are combined with whipped egg whites. The dough rests overnight in a cold place and is rolled out very thin before frying. Although its shape is close to that of kleinur, which use tangy dairy and baking soda, it differs in how air is incorporated and in the thickness of the dough.

While the very similar pastry of the neighboring country is a Christmas treat, in modern Iceland kleinur became established as a pastry to accompany everyday coffee. Emigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries also carried this pastry into homes in Canada and the United States, where, along with vínarterta and others, it became a pastry that represented their homeland. In this way, the name and the method of kleinur were also handed down in the lives of those who settled abroad.

An immigrant woman’s memories of learning to bake for guests

A 2010 study by anthropologist Nína Rós Ísberg records the memories of German women who moved to Iceland after the war. One described how there were coffee breaks again and again, even between meals, and how she kept making kleinur and other baked goods, contrasting this with her life in Germany, where cakes were baked on Sundays.

Another woman recalled trying to adapt to the custom of preparing several kinds of baked goods for guests, and struggling until she could make this pastry well. Although these accounts come from interviews with a particular generation and region, they show concretely that making kleinur was not only a matter of preparing daily snacks but also a task learned in order to welcome people into the home.

Glossary