What does St. Patrick’s Day have to do with the Danes?  Danes were some of the earliest settlers to many of the towns along the Irish coast.  At O&H Bakery, we celebrate our Danish history with a tip of the hat to Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day.  Our St. Patrick's Day open-face sandwich breads are our way of celebrating both cultures at once.

The early Danes were well-known for their seafaring prowess, which made them great traders and merchants.  They often traveled far and wide, searching for the finest goods, trading in Greenland, the Middle East, and Asia.  We take the same approach as our ancestors when choosing our ingredients.

Planning a St. Patrick’s Day Brunch Before the Parade

Whether you are in Racine, Dublin, or Copenhagen for a St. Patrick’s Day parade (yes, they hold parades in Denmark!), why not host a brunch to fortify yourself and your guests before a long afternoon of fun and festivities?  We suggest you incorporate the following foods into your Danish-inspired St. Patrick’s Day brunch:

St. Patrick’s Day Kringle

We recently introduced the St. Patrick’s Day Kringle.  At O&H, we make all our bakery goods from traditional Danish recipes, and we continue to use baking methods trusted by past generations.  Our bakers prepare our custards and all our products from scratch, and we source ingredients with a passion for perfection.  You’ll taste the difference: we find the finest fruits, nuts, flour, and butter that the world has to offer.

Our St. Patrick’s Day Kringle begins as all our kringles do: we gently roll the butter into the dough and let it rest overnight, and we repeat the process over three days to create a 36-layer pastry dough.  For our St. Patrick’s Day Kringle, we roll the pastry around dark chocolate cake and a layer of mint-flavored custard, and we top it with chocolate icing and mint chocolate pieces.

Your guests will be dancing an Irish jig before they finish their first piece.  Grab this delicious kringle quickly - it is only available for two weeks out of the year.

Imperial Chocolate Crown Cake with a twist!

Chocolate is good anytime of the year but especially delicious when you add a little Baileys whip cream!  First take our Imperial Chocolate Crown Cake, which is made with premium cocoas, bittersweet chocolate chunks, and then iced in a creamy chocolate.  To take this to the next level, something worthy of a St. Paddy’s Day party you’ll need to make your own Bailey’s whip cream - but don’t worry, it’s easy!

All you’ll need to start is 1 Tablespoon of Bailey’s and 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream.  Start with a chilled bowl and add the whipping cream and Baileys to a chilled bowl.  Grab your trusty handheld mixer and beat the mixture for 1-2 minutes, until your desired consistency is achieved.  Less time and you’ll get a frothy and airy layer of cream that will spread easily and more time a for a stiffer whipped cream that works great between two layers of cake!

St. Patrick's Day Open-Face Sandwich Breads

Danes are famous for smorresbrod, a traditional open-faced sandwich that translates to ‘butter and bread’.  You top the dense, dark brown bread with cold cuts, fish, meat, cheese, spreads, and garnishes.  The toppings hang over the bread until you can no longer see it, and you eat it with a fork and knife.

To celebrate with the Irish in mind, we recommend piling the traditional brown bread with green-themed toppings or maybe your corned beef and cabbage!

Danish Breads from O&H for Your St. Patty’s Day

O&H Danish breads are delicious for brunch or at any time of the day.  Rugbrod is the oldest and most traditional bread in Denmark.  It is a rye bread that is very nutritious, packed with vitamins, minerals, and fibers.

Rugbrod played an essential role in Danish food culture, as rye was the most-used grain for bread throughout the 19th century.  During hard times, there wasn’t enough rye, so the Vikings would bake bark and hay into the dough to help them feel full.  Today, you can purchase nutritious and delicious rugbrod from us (without the hay or bark included).

You can’t go wrong during your next green celebration whether you serve rugbrod or O&H Danish pumpernickel bread for your St. Patrick's Day open-face sandwich breads.  The breads may not be green, but once you add all toppings for the sandwich, you’ll believe that you’ve experienced the luck of the Irish in coming across such a sumptuous seasonal treat.

Toppings for Your St. Patrick's Day Open-Face Sandwich Breads

Want to go green with your open-face sandwich?  Begin with a green spread that you can create from scratch.  Take a half-cup mayonnaise and blend it with a third-cup each of basil leaves, tarragon leaves, and chopped chives.  Add a little garlic and lemon juice plus a pinch of salt, and you have a perfectly green St. Patrick’s Day spread for your sandwich.

Your smorrebrod can grow in size and creativity with sliced avocados, green tomatoes, thin slices of cucumber, and small romaine leaves.  Include some slices of fresh mozzarella to allow the vibrant green hue of your vegetables to pop.

Your guests will discover the feast at the end of the rainbow when they partake in your creative and fun combinations of food and cheer.

Brunch Includes Coffee and Dessert

The Irish certainly enjoy a good mug of tea - in fact, over four-fifths of Ireland and most of the British Isles consume tea as their preferred morning drink.  If you come from the States or many other countries in the world, coffee is likely your preferred drink at breakfast and brunch.

O&H offers Gokstad Coffee named for one of the finest Viking longships, which was a seagoing vessel used for trade and exploration.  Our coffee blends dark roast beans with a sweet-and-clean light roast to create a master craftsman’s combination of flavors.  We source our coffee directly from its origin point and roast it locally by hand.  It’s all delivered fresh, and we use the same meticulous standards for our coffee as we do for all our products.  We won’t hold it against you if you want to make this an Irish coffee either!

As you round out your coffee-and-treats options, why not include our Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Cookies, made into an Ice Cream Sandwich?  All you will need is your favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream and our delicious triple chocolate cookies.  Simply spoon some mint chocolate ice cream on top of one of our cookies and then add another cookie on top for good measure.  It’s an Irish party (and gluten free)!

A Blending of the Best on St. Patrick’s Day

At O&H Bakery, we go above and beyond to deliver the finest goods, whether you plan to pick them up in Racine on the morning of the parade or purchase them from afar with our two-day delivery guarantee.

Look to us when you are ready to celebrate like the Irish but eat like the Danes.  Choose our delicious products and create a St. Patrick’s Day to remember.