Springfield has fallen in love with the Kringle — and it’s all thanks to the vision of Lance and Lynda Twesme.
Back in the 1980s, the couple lived in Racine, Wisconsin, considered America’s Kringle capital due its Danish heritage. Lance worked in bakeries and learned the trade.
A Kringle is a Danish pastry made with more than 30 layers of buttery, flakey dough. It has a variety of fillings from cream cheese to fruit spread, nuts or chocolate.
Lance wanted to open a bakery, but the market in Racine was saturated. So, he and his wife Lynda moved to where she had extended family — Springfield, Mo.
They started Supreme Kringle Bakery, introduced the Queen City to the pastry and “it took off right away,” said Lynda.
About Supreme Kringle Bakery
- 3314 S. National Ave., Springfield
- (417) 881-5226
- Check hours and updates on Facebook
The bakery sells 10,000 Kringles every December — its busiest month.
“The oven is going constantly, constantly, constantly,” Lynda said. “There is always somebody in here 24/7 the last two weeks of Christmas. It is overwhelming at times. Every year when it’s over, we laugh and think ‘Oh my goodness, we did it again.’”
The “we” is her daughter Taedra, who now owns the family business. Their son Kole lives in Columbus, Ohio, but takes vacation every December to come home and help his family at the bakery.
“It’s akin to running a marathon,” said Kole. “It’s extremely hard work but feels amazing when you cross the finish line.”
Christmas Eve for the Twesme family looked very different than it did for others in the Ozarks.
“The holidays were difficult when I was a child because my parents worked, worked, worked. Christmas Eve my parents were exhausted. When we closed, we were looking for a place to eat. Some years we went to Chinese food because it was quick and hot,” Taedra said.
Lance — the bakery’s visionary — passed away in 2019, but his family continues his dream.
Bakery became a family affair
Lance and Lynda Twesme bought Supreme Bakery in 1988 and renamed it Supreme Kringle Bakery.
They were the third owners of the store which originally started on College Street and moved to the Brentwood Center (they’ve since moved to South National). The business had been around for decades, said Lynda.
Being new to town, they wanted an existing establishment that already had a reputation and clientele.
They worked hard. Ten-to-12-hour days were normal, but the holidays ushered in 18-hour shifts.
Taedra Kant, their daughter, was 12 when she started working at the bakery. Her first job was making Christmas cookies.
By age 16, she dreamed of one day taking over the family business.
“I always knew this would be my path,” Kant said. “It taught me a lot of responsibility.”
Her favorite part of the business is working with people.
Her least favorite? Waking up at 4 a.m.
Kole began to pitch in at age 15. His favorite memory was shared with his dad.
“When I had my driver’s learning permit, my dad would always let me drive when we delivered doughnuts out to wholesale accounts,” he said.
The two of them also worked as a team on Christmas Eve, shuttling pastries from the back to the front of the shop as the ladies called out order numbers. Christmas Eve is so busy there is no time to run to the back.
Kant bought the bakery in 2016, the year her father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her mother still works there a couple days a week. They both put in grueling hours during the holidays.
“I am proud of her,” Lynda said. “She has a good work ethic. She’s not afraid of long hours.”
Flavorful fun with fillings
At the bakery, the pastry comes in 24 flavors, including raspberry-cheese, German chocolate, almond, pecan, strawberry. Customers can also create their own.
When Kant took over, she added more flavors, such as pumpkin and the holiday edition — a huge seller. The holiday Kringle is filled with apples, cream cheese and candied pecans.
“We top it with cranberries and it’s real festive, real pretty,” Kant said.
This year, they may require pre-orders on the holiday edition because it’s so popular and like many restaurants, they are short-staffed.
The pastry is incredibly labor intensive because it has 39 layers of flaky dough, each slathered with butter, which are hand rolled and formed.
According to What’s Cooking America, the oval shape was adapted in Racine. In Denmark, Kringles are shaped like a pretzel. The pastry traces its heritage all the way back to the 13th century.
While the Kringle is their signature sweet, it isn’t all they offer. There are muffins, popular tea cakes, fritters, cookies, mega cinnamon rolls, coffee cakes, doughnuts, Danishes and more.
As owner, Kant has her hand in every aspect of the business. She learned hard work from her parents, but has also learned to balance life.
“That is one thing I have made a priority learning from my parents is life can’t be all about work. You have to take time for yourself. We shut down twice a year: Fourth of July week and the week after Christmas until January 2,” Kant said.
As a family, they worked well together.
“It has always been really good. We communicate very well. We have always been able to sit down and be innovative with different ideas or different products. Many businesses are not as lucky as we are when it comes to working together,” Lynda said.
Their success continued to grow every year. Their pastries are found at a plethora of office gatherings, holiday parties and are extremely popular corporate gifts. Lynda said they even receive orders from Kansas City, St. Louis and Arkansas.
Lynda and Lance were married more than 40 years and devoted decades to the bakery. It feels wonderful to see it succeed and see their daughter take it over, said Lynda.
Kant is proud to continue her family tradition.
“It is amazing to know I have carried on my dad’s legacy,” Kant said. “This is something he took so much pride in. I know he looks down upon me and would be very proud.”
