A bear claw is a sweet,
yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...
-raised
pastry
Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...
, a type of
Danish or
Viennoiserie
''Viennoiseries'' (; English: "things in the style of Vienna") are French baked goods made from a yeast-leavened dough in a manner similar to bread, or from puff pastry, but with added ingredients (particularly eggs, butter, milk, cream and s ...
originating in the United States during the mid-1910s.
In Denmark, a bear claw is referred to as a ''kam''
[Roufs, Timothy G., and Kathleen Smyth Roufs]
''Sweet Treats around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture''
ABC-CLIO, 2014. Gale eBooks. Accessed 16 Oct. 2020. and in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
as ''Kamm''. 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 on 13 March 1914 by the Geibel German Bakery,
["Rolls; Friday Special Assortment of French Pastries"](_blank)
'' The Sacramento Star''. March 13, 1914. p. 6. Retrieved July 17, 2022. located at
915 K Street in downtown
Sacramento
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
. By the next year, bear claws were on the breakfast menu at German-owned Hamburger's Los Angeles, which was then the largest department store west of Chicago.
The phrase is more common in
Western American English
Western American English (also known as Western U.S. English) is a variety of American English that largely unites the entire Western United States as a single dialect region, including the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexi ...
,
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?"
Ingredients and shape
Most Danishes include the same basic ingredients such as eggs, yeast, flour, milk, sugar, and butter.
The bear claw is also made with "sweet dough" which is "bread dough with more shortening than usual". One of the differences between most Danishes, besides taste, is seen in their shape.
A bear claw is usually filled with
almond paste
Almond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar in equal quantities, with small amounts of cooking oil, eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added as a binder. It is similar to marzipan, with a coarser texture. Almond paste is used a ...
,
and sometimes
raisins
A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, the word ''raisin'' is reserv ...
, and often shaped in a semicircle with slices along the curved edge, or rectangular with partial slices along one side. As the dough rises, the sections separate, evoking the shape of a
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
's toes, hence the name.
A bear claw may also be a
yeast doughnut in a shape similar to that of the pastry.
Production
A bear claw can be made by hand or by machine.
[. US Patent US 2434339 A. Filed 1944-03-22. Granted 1948-01-13.] Bear claw can be hand-made by using a bear claw cutter that was invented in 1950 by James Fennell. 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.
The pastry can be curved into a half-circle at this point, which causes the "toes" to separate.
Health and nutrition
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
Panera Bread is an American multinational chain of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Fenton, Missouri. The chain operates as Saint Louis ...
.
See also
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Banket (pastry)
Banket (bahn-KET) is a type of sweet pastry filled with almond Paste (food), paste, which originated in the Netherlands. It is made in several forms, each of which goes by various names. One variety consists of long bars or loaves which are slice ...
- An almond-stuffed pastry from the Netherlands
*
List of almond dishes
This is a list of almond foods and dishes, which use almond as a primary ingredient. The almond is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. "Almond" is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within ...
*
List of pastries
pastry, Pastries are small buns made using a stiff dough enriched with fat. Some dishes, such as pies, are made of a pastry casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweetness, sweet or Umami, savory ingredients.
The six basi ...
*
List of regional dishes of the United States
The cuisine of the United States includes many regional or local dishes, side dishes and foods. This list includes dishes and foods that are associated with specific regions of the United States.
Regional dishes of the United States
Barbecu ...
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bear Claw (Pastry)
Pastries
Almond desserts
American doughnuts