Sometimes I throw myself a culinary challenge. This is manifested in the fact that I begin to prepare such dishes that it would be easier to go and buy if I were in my homeland. This is especially true for desserts. However, most of the goodies that come from my childhood in Dubai are not available, and I really want to please my family, which is the biggest motivation and a signal for action.

Today I want to invite you to cook a delicacy from shortcrust pastry with a layer of jam, just the way I remember it from early childhood. The taste of a shortcrust pastry glazed with lipstick is familiar to every person who lived in the USSR. It is based on simple ingredients, making it accessible to anyone. And despite all its simplicity, it is very tasty.

The true story of the origin of the Alexandertorte is unknown, but almost all sources associate its appearance with the name of Emperor Alexander I. One of the versions indicates that this cake was invented by a Swiss pastry chef and served to the emperor on his birthday during a visit to Helsinki. According to another version, the author of this dessert is one of the founders of modern cooking, the Frenchman Marie-Antoine Karem, who for some time worked in St. Petersburg at the court of Alexander I.

“Alexandertorte” or simply glazed shortbread cake with jam was very common in Soviet times, which can be explained by the fact that it does not require any special storage conditions.

If you want to nostalgize a little or just plunge into the atmosphere of culinary delicacies of the times of the USSR, then be sure to prepare “Alexandertorte”.

Alexandertorte

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 300 g flour
• 120 g sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 1 egg
• 180 g butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Salt

Filling:

• 180 g lingonberry or raspberry jam

Glaze:

• 200 g icing sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

Cooking method:

1. Soften the butter, beat it with a mixer with egg, sugar and vanilla white sugar.
2. Add flour, sifted with baking powder and salt. Use your fingers to mix the flour and the butter mixture to form a crumb. Collect the crumbs in a ball, wrap in foil and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
3. Then roll out between two sheets of baking paper into a layer according to the size of the baking sheet, carefully trim the edges along a ruler. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet, remove the top sheet of paper.
4. Bake in an oven preheated to 190 for 15 minutes. Cut the protruding layer into two equal parts. Set aside two tablespoons of jam, spread the remaining jam evenly on one part of the tortilla. Lay the second part on top and press down slightly. Grease the surface with delayed jam. It is important to do all this while the cakes are warm.
5. Mix the icing sugar with enough lemon juice to form a fluid mass. Set aside a couple of spoons and mix with cocoa. Drizzle over the jam-coated cakes with the resulting icing and cut into strips. Squeeze out strips of dark cocoa frosting from a cooking syringe or paper envelope over the icing.
6. Allow the glaze to cool completely.

It’s tea time! Enjoy!