Latvian Kringel

Ingredients

 * 1) 1/2 tsp. Spanish saffron, very finely crumbled or ground
 * 2) 1/4 cp. boiling water
 * 3) 2 Tbsps. yeast
 * 4) 1/2 cp. warm water
 * 5) 1 tsp. sugar
 * 6) 4 1/2 cps. flour
 * 7) 2 cps. table cream, warm
 * 8) 1/2 lb. butter
 * 9) 1/2 - 1 cp. sugar
 * 10) 3 egg yolks
 * 11) 1 1/2 cps. golden raisins
 * 12) 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
 * 13) 1 tsp. salt
 * 14) 1 lemon, grate rind and keep juice to put in dough
 * 15) 1 orange, grate rind only (you can then eat the orange!)
 * 16) 1/2 cp. whole or slivered almonds (for decoration)
 * 17) 1 egg, beaten with about 1 Tbsp. water (for decoration)
 * 18) icing sugar (for decoration)

Directions
Take eggs and butter out of fridge, and let come to room temperature. Crumble saffron into 1/4 cp. boiling water and let stand. Warm cream (on extremely low heat in a saucepan).

Grate the orange rind and lemon rind, reserving the lemon juice for the kringel dough. Into the 1/4 cp. of warm water mix the teaspoon of sugar, and sprinkle yeast on top of water. Let stand (about 10 minutes) until bubbled up.

In a large bowl, combine warm cream with yeast mixture and add half of the flour. Mix well. Cover and let rise for half an hour in a warm place.

Meanwhile, cream butter with sugar. Add egg yolks one at a time. Whip until light.

Add raisins to remainder of flour. Add butter/sugar/egg mixture to risen dough/yeast/flour mixture. Now, in a very large bowl, mix together everything (except the items used for decoration). Mix until dough is smooth. Cover and let rise again in warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).

Place risen dough on floured board and knead until smooth and elastic.

The traditional shape is a large pretzel shape. This is the way it is usually presented as a birthday "cake", or for a formal occasion.

Pretzel shape: grease a cookie sheet. Stretch dough into a long, fat roll with tapered ends. Place the centre of the roll onto the middle of the long side of the cookie sheet. Make a pretzel shape by twisting the ends into the centre and placing them on the middle of the cake. Smooth and even out the "pretzel" until the two pretzel holes are about the size of a cup.

Preparing cake for baking: Brush surface of dough with beaten egg/water mixture. Sprinkle or decorate with almonds. Let rise again. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Baking and presentation: Bake until golden brown (about 35 - 45 minutes). Let cool in/on pan. If you have them, place paper doilies on a large platter and place kringel on them. Dust with icing sugar. Garnish imaginatively: with candles, bows, candies, flowers, etc. Enjoy!