Name: Raspberry Filled Pastry Strips
Ingredients: ½ lb (225 g ) unsalted butter , chilled and cut into small pieces; 3½ cups (840 ml ) flour; 3 tbsp (45 ml) white granulated sugar; 1 egg; 1½ cups (360 ml / 12 oz ) raspberry preserves; 2 tbsp (30 ml) butter , softened; 2 cups (480 ml) confectioner's sugar; ¼ cup (120 ml) cold water; 2 tsp (10 ml) lemon juice

Why it works: Raspberry and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,109 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Raspberry Filled Pastry Strips

Oven250°F (120°C)

Time40 minutes

Ingredients

½ lb (225 g ) unsalted butter , chilled and cut into small pieces
3½ cups (840 ml ) flour
3 tbsp (45 ml) white granulated sugar
1 egg
1½ cups (360 ml / 12 oz ) raspberry preserves
2 tbsp (30 ml) butter , softened
2 cups (480 ml) confectioner's sugar
¼ cup (120 ml) cold water
2 tsp (10 ml) lemon juice

Directions

Make the pastry

In a large mixing bowl, combine the chilled butter, 3 cups of the flour, and the sugar.
With your fingertips, rub until the mixture resembles flakes of coarse meal.
Beat in the egg and continue to mix until the pastry is smooth.
Shape it into a ball, wrap it in wax paper, and refrigerate 1 hour, or until the dough is firm.
Preheat the oven to 250°F (120°C).
Cut the chilled pastry in half and shape each half into a rectangle.

Prepare the filling

With the back of a spoon, rub the preserves through a fine sieve set over a 1-quart saucepan.
Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, for 3–5 minutes, or until they thicken into a thin purée.
Set aside off the heat.

Roll and bake

One half at a time, roll the pastry between two sheets of lightly floured wax paper into a rectangle approximately 10 inches wide and 15 inches long.
With a pastry brush, coat each of 2 cookie sheets with 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle them with flour, tipping the sheets from side to side to coat them evenly. Then invert the sheets and tap them against a hard surface to dislodge any excess flour.
Peel off the top sheets of wax paper and use the bottom ones to lift the 2 rectangles of pastry onto the 2 cookie sheets. Peel off the remaining sheets of wax paper.
Bake 40 minutes, or until the pastry begins to turn a pale gold. Watch carefully for any sign of burning and regulate the heat accordingly.
Let cool.

Assemble and finish

With a metal spatula, spread the raspberry purée evenly over one sheet of the pastry, covering it completely and smoothly.
Slide the second sheet of pastry gently onto the first.
With a spoon, stir the confectioner's sugar, water and lemon juice together in a large mixing bowl to form a thin icing. Spread the icing over the top layer of pastry with the spatula.
Set the cake aside to cool to room temperature.
With a small, sharp knife or pastry wheel, slice the Aleksander Torte into strips 1 inch wide and 2 inches long, cutting the ends on the diagonal.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

760Calories

21 gProtein

19 gFat

127 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Raspberry	1 cup (123g)	64
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Raspberry + lemontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,109 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + raspberrytop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,308 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Unsalted butter: Chilled butter pieces create flaky layers as they melt and steam during baking.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the pastry together and lets it be rolled and lifted.
Egg: Binds the dough and adds richness so it becomes smooth and cohesive.
Raspberry preserves: Supplies fruit flavour and sweetness, and cooking thickens it into a spreadable filling.
Confectioner's sugar: Forms a thin, sweet icing that sets as a glossy top layer.

The step that matters

Chilling the dough before rolling. Cold butter stays in solid pieces, so when the pastry bakes it releases steam that separates the layers. Warm dough melts the butter into the flour, making the pastry tough and greasy rather than flaky.

Swap the raspberry

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, egg, lemon):

Raisinfits better
Vanillafits better
Figfits about as well
Raspberrythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, egg, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Lemon Cake228 recipes

Raspberry Jam150 recipes

Lemon Ice147 recipes

Lemon Sherbet103 recipes

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Raspberry Filled Pastry Strips