A bear claw is a sweet,

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

-raised

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ma ...

, a type of

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

, originating in the United States during the mid-1910's. In Denmark, a bear claw is referred to as ''kamme''.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. France also have 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,"Rolls; Friday Special Assortment of French Pastries"
''The Sacramento Star''. March 13, 1914. p. 6. Retrieved July 17, 2022. located at 915 K Street in downtown

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. 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 American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English languag ...

, 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, beaten eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added as a binder. It is similar to ''marzipan'', but has a coarser texture. Almond pa ...

, 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, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the da ...

, 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 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 throughout the Nor ...

's toes, hence the name. A bear claw may also be a yeast doughnut in a shape similar to that of the pastry. Such doughnuts may have an

apple pie An apple pie is a fruit pie in which the principal filling ingredient is apples. The earliest printed recipe is from England. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream, ice cream ("apple pie à la mode"), or cheddar cheese. It is generally ...

-style filling, or other fillings such as

butter pecan Butter pecan is a flavor, prominent especially in the United States, in ice cream, cakes, and cookies. Roasted pecans, butter, and vanilla flavor are used in butter pecan baked goods. Butter pecan ice cream is smooth vanilla ice cream with a sli ...

dates Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner **Group dating *Play date, an ...

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration de ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

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 chain store 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 Sunset Hills, Missouri. The company operates as Saint Louis ...

References

Pastries Almond desserts American doughnuts {{Dessert-stub

Ingredients and shape

Production

Health and nutrition

See also

References