Wisconsin Bakes Rhubarb Pies And Now Rhubarb Kringles

Rhubarb is ready for picking! That rosy perennial plant adorning Wisconsin farms and suburban gardens is ripe for pies, cakes, muffins, and fools, (- the whipped kind), and now for kringles! Rhubarb kringle!!! How delicious is that?! At last the buttery, flaky pastry of Danish kringle is being layered with deliciously sweet and tart rhubarb. I mean kringle is great when flavored with pecans or raspberries. But now in early summer, RHUBARB kringle comes to our Wisconsin tables!!! Just in time for Father's Day!
Year's ago I baked a strawberry-rhubarb pie for my grandfather on Father's Day. He loved it and the two of us ate most of it in one sitting. Now every June I cut stalks from my garden's rhubarb plant and minutes later the stalks are baking in a pie. But with rhubarb kringle available, pies are passe. On to KRINGLE!
Oh, not that I'll be making a kringle myself. I'm not into spending three days making kringle pastry which will undoubtably be inferior to that of the southern-Wisconsin Danes. Yes, kringles are tricky and labor intensive! - Better to leave their baking to the professionals.
Problem is, Wisconsinites consider rhubarb one of those "seasonal" foods, like pumpkins and strawberries. Why we don't think bananas are seasonal I haven't a clue. I can only guess that because Wisconsin farms lack a banana season entirely the tropical fruit completely flummoxes us. But unfortunately Wisconsinites do have this sorry seasonal atttitude toward rhubarb. This means that we either have to eat an entire year's worth of rhubarb in one month and get so sick of it that we don't want it again until next June, or we can decide to enjoy rhubarb in moderation and then spend the next eleven months yearning for its return. This dilemma in the 21st century? Can't Wisconsin do better? You betcha'.
Our answer is kringle. True, rhubarb kringle is only available for purchase during the month of June, but kringle freezes WELL! So well in fact, that put a kringle in the freezer, gently re-heat it 6 months later, and December will feel like June, (well, as long as you crank the heat and draw the shades). What a surprise to family and friends: rhubarb kringle at Christmas!!! They'll either think you're nuts or incredibly clever. I say keep 'em guessing.
Click on the link to find the Wisconsin recipe for a delicious rhubarb crumble cake.