Bendsten’s Bakery has a lot of namesakes. In March Bendt Bendtsen III will take on the rigours and rewards of the popular bakery in Wisconsin, US, after his father – Bendt “Ben” Bendsten Jr retires. 

The business was founded in 1934 by, you guessed it, another Bendt Bedtsen, giving the bakery a proud four-generation family lineage.

It’s the family’s kringle recipe – a Scandinavian pastry doughnut – that is the lifeblood of the business, with up to 7000 being shipped around the region on a busy day. The Bendtsens still mix and roll their kringle dough by hand, the original way, rather than let machines do any of that work.

“It makes it flakier, and you can be more delicate,” Bendt said.