Leske’s Bakery
Leske’s Bakery was founded in Bay Ridge, which is once the most highly concentrated Scandinavian areas of the United States. It was opened in 1961, and people from all over Brooklyn would commute to this iconic Bakery that catered to many other nationalities other than Scandinavians. What makes this bakery authentic is that it is able to make popular, traditional, Nordic style pastries, while being able to cater to the surrounding nationalities of the Brooklyn population. The mesh of different nationalities into one bakery gives the Bakery an “American” feeling and makes it an “American” bakery. The bakery also offers a variety of New-York style desserts such as jelly doughnuts, and New York style cheesecake. The bakery still focuses on being a Scandinavian bakery with its traditional Nordic-style pastries.
The bakery is filled with a variety of traditional Danish pastries that are made with traditional Danish ingredients such as ground almonds, sugar, raisins, and ground almonds. Many of the desserts that were sold there included Kransekake, a cake that was is typically eaten on special occasions, even weddings. There were a variety of breads, such as limpa bread, and tiny pastries such as kringler, which is a puff pastry with a sweet filling that is in the shape of a pretzel. Kransekake tells us a lot about the historical development of the cultural experience of both America and the Nordic countries. The unique cake is made out of many layers like typical American cakes. However, its layers are consisted of rings that give it a unique cone shape. The cake is made out of traditional Nordic ingredients such as almonds, sugar, butter and egg whites. It is even decorated with different ornaments such as Nordic flags, like the display of the Kransekake that was displayed in the bakery window.
Leske’s décor is not filled with symbols of its cultural background, which can be because it caters to other nationalities other than Scandinavians because of its variety of Irish and Italian pastries. The bakery was not always in business, and closed down in 2011 when the Scandinavian population dwindled down to a small percentage of what it was when the bakery first opened. The new, third set of owners, who are the present owners of the bakery now, opened it up again in 2012 to give back to the Brooklyn demographic its unique taste of Scandinavian and other treats. Another Leske’s Bakery even opened up in Park’s slope, so that it can be more convenient for the many people that commuted to this unique location.
We participated in Leskes bakery’s culture by sampling kransekake bars, which are essentially bars of almond cake with icing, and krumkake cookies, which are waffle cookies. They were unique and delicious pastries that not all of us had had before so it was nice to have everyone in the group take part in the culture. Whenever someone new is introduced into another person’s culture by eating their food, it is special because they are making you a part of their culture and you are getting an opportunity to learn about what makes the cultures cuisine unique.
