Raspberry Filled Pastry Strips (Alexandertorte)

Instructions

Rub the chilled butter, 3 cups of the flour and the granulated sugar together with your fingertips until the mix looks like coarse meal. Beat in the egg until the dough is smooth, shape it into a ball, wrap it in wax paper and chill for 1 hour, until firm.

Press the raspberry preserves through a fine sieve into a 1-quart saucepan with the back of a spoon. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes, until it thickens into a thin purée, then set it aside off the heat.

Preheat the oven to 250°F (120°C). Cut the dough in half and shape each half into a rectangle. Roll out one half at a time between two sheets of lightly floured wax paper, to about 10 inches wide and 15 inches long.

Brush each of 2 cookie sheets with 1 tablespoon of the softened butter and dust with flour, tipping the sheets to coat them evenly. Turn the sheets upside down and tap them on a hard surface to knock off the excess flour.

Peel off the top sheet of wax paper from each rectangle and use the bottom sheet to lift the pastry onto a prepared cookie sheet. Peel away the remaining wax paper.

Bake for 40 minutes, until the pastry just starts to turn pale gold. Watch for any sign of burning and adjust the heat if needed, then let both sheets cool.

Spread the raspberry purée over one pastry sheet with a metal spatula, covering it smoothly to the edges. Slide the second sheet gently on top.

Stir the confectioner's sugar, cold water and lemon juice together into a thin icing. Spread it over the top layer with the spatula and leave the pastry to cool to room temperature.

Cut into strips 1 inch wide and 2 inches long with a small sharp knife or pastry wheel, trimming the ends on the diagonal.