This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2012) |
Type | Pastry, doughnut or fritter |
---|---|
Place of origin | United States |
Main ingredients | Dough, almond paste |
Ingredients generally used | Raisins |
A bear claw is a sweet, yeast-raised pastry, a type of Danish, originating in the United States during the mid-1910s. [1] [2] [3] [4] In Denmark, a bear claw is referred to as a kam. [5] France also has an alternate version of that pastry: patte d'ours (meaning bear paw), created in 1982 in the Alps. The name bear claw as used for a pastry is first attested in March 1914 by the Geibel German Bakery, [1] located at 915 K Street in downtown Sacramento. [6] [7] The phrase is more common in Western American English, [8] and is included in the U.S. Regional Dialect Survey Results, Question #87, "Do you use the term 'bear claw' for a kind of pastry?" [9]
Most Danishes include the same basic ingredients such as eggs, yeast, flour, milk, sugar, and butter. [5] The bear claw is also made with "sweet dough" which is "bread dough with more shortening than usual". [10] One of the differences between most Danishes, besides taste, is seen in their shape. [5] A bear claw is usually filled with almond paste, [11] and sometimes raisins, and often shaped in a semicircle with slices along the curved edge, or rectangular with partial slices along one side. [12] As the dough rises, the sections separate, evoking the shape of a bear's toes, hence the name. [13] A bear claw may also be a yeast doughnut in a shape similar to that of the pastry. [13] Such doughnuts may have an apple pie-style filling, or other fillings such as butter pecan, dates, cream cheese, grape or cherry.
A bear claw can be made by hand or by machine. [14] Bear claw can be hand-made by using a bear claw cutter that was invented in 1950 by James Fennell. [15] A 1948 patent describes the process of assembling the bear claw as rolling out the dough, layering filling onto it, folding the dough over, cutting small incisions to create the claw-like look, and finally cutting the dough into separate pastries. [14] The pastry can be curved into a half-circle at this point, which causes the "toes" to separate. [16]
Similar to other pastries, the bear claw is typically high in carbohydrates and fats. Example nutrition information can be seen from a version produced by the restaurant chain Panera Bread. [17]
A cookie or biscuit is a baked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat, and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, or nuts.
Confectionery is the art of making confections, the sweet foods themselves or the confectioner's shop. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: bakers' confections and sugar confections. The occupation of confectioner encompasses the categories of cooking performed by both the French patissier and the confiseur.
Pastry refers to a variety of doughs, as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. These goods are often called pastries as a synecdoche, and the dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties.
A doughnut or donut is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty vendors. Doughnut is the traditional spelling, while donut is the simplified version; the terms are used interchangeably.
A croissant is a French pastry made from puff pastry in a crescent shape.
A Danish pastry is a multilayered, laminated sweet pastry in the viennoiserie tradition. It is thought that some bakery techniques were brought to Denmark by Austrian bakers, and originated the name of this pastry. The danish recipe is however different from the Viennese one and has since developed into a Danish specialty.
A bun is a type of bread roll, typically filled with savory fillings. A bun may also refer to a sweet cake in certain parts of the world. Though they come in many shapes and sizes, buns are most commonly round, and are generally hand-sized or smaller.
Kringle is a Northern European pastry, a variety of pretzel. Pretzels were introduced by Roman Catholic monks in the 13th century in Denmark, and from there they spread throughout Scandinavia and evolved into several kinds of sweet, salty or filled pastries, all in the shape of kringle.
A Krapfen or Berliner is a German jam doughnut with no central hole, made from sweet yeast dough fried in lard or cooking oil, with a jam filling, and usually covered in powdered sugar.
Gata is an Armenian pastry or sweet bread. There are many variations of gata in Armenia. Typically, specific towns or regions will have their own version. It can be found in a variety of shapes, sizes and may be decorated or left unadorned. Long ago, gata was baked in a tonir, but it is now baked in ovens. The bread is traditionally eaten at the feast of Candlemas, but is eaten during other festivities too or simply baked to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.
The poppy seed roll is a pastry consisting of a roll of sweet yeast bread with a dense, rich, bittersweet filling of poppy seed. An alternative filling is a paste of minced walnuts, or minced chestnuts.
A sweet roll or sweet bun refers to any of a number of sweet, baked, yeast-leavened breakfast or dessert foods. They may contain spices, nuts, candied fruits, etc., and are often glazed or topped with icing. Compared to regular bread dough, sweet roll dough generally has higher levels of sugar, fat, eggs, and yeast. They are often round, and are small enough to comprise a single serving. These differ from pastries, which are made from a paste-like batter; from cakes, which are typically unleavened or chemically leavened; and from doughnuts, which are deep fried.
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