Yes! A break from all the Pączki recipes I’ve been posting! I’ve gone over the border to Germany to Fastnacht Keuchels- which are also doughnuts made to be eaten just before Lent.
Klenät, klena, klejne, kleina, kleyna, and fattigmann are all names for a fried pastry common in the Nordic countries. It is also found in nearby countries (such as Lithuania, under the name Žagarėliai). The name is related to klen, the Swedish term for “slender”, but is originally of Low German origin, which may indicate that the pastry was originally German. It is made from flattened dough cut into small trapezoids. A slit is cut in the middle and then one end pulled through the slit to form a “knot”. The kleina is then deep-fried in oil or another kind of fat.
In Scandinavia, klenäter are traditionally eaten around Christmas, most commonly in the southern parts of Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Denmark, the Baltic states, as well as Northern Germany. They may be sprinkled with sugar. Icelandic Kleinur are a very common everyday pastry, sold in bakeries (singly) and stores (in bags of ten or so) all around the country, and eaten plain.
By Mycoleptodiscus (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
