Danish Raspberry Shortcake Recipe

Today's dessert recipe is another classic from the Cordon Bleu school of cookery.

This recipe is for an elegant Danish dessert; a raspberry shortcake dessert that makes an elegant centrepiece for any table.

Danish Raspberry Shortcake

Serves: 6 to 8

This is another traditional dessert recipe from the Cordon Bleu (blue ribband) school of cookery. This makes a spectacular centrepiece to round off any meal.

Ingredients:

50g (1 lb) raspberries
3 tbsp redcurrant glaze (heat redcurrant jelly in a pan until molten then pass through a fine-meshed sieve)
90ml double cream, whipped

For the Pastry:

125g (4 oz) plain flour
90g (3 oz) butter
45g (1 1/2 oz) icing sugar, sifted
1 egg yolk
3 drops of vanilla extract

Method:

Begin with the pastry. Sift the flour onto a marble slab or cool work surface. Form a well in the centre, and add the butter, icing sugar, egg yolk and vanilla extract. Using your fingertips gradually work the flour into the liquid ingredients until the mixture comes together as a dough.

Cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes. After this time, turn the pastry out onto a floured work surface and roll our pat out into a round about 6mm (1/4 in) thick and 20cm (8 in) in diameter.

Carefully slide onto onto a baking tray then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180ºC (350ºF, Gas Mark 5) and bake blind for between 15 and 20 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked but not coloured (it should look like shortbread). Remove the pastry from the oven and set aside to cool.

When the pastry has cooled cover its surface completely with the raspberries and brush the redcurrant glaze over the top. Spoon the whipped cream into a piping bag and use this to pipe out a decorative border around the outside of the raspberry layer.

See the Celtnet Danish recipes and information page for more classic Danish recipes.