Danish Hindbærsnitter 

I first tried Hindbaersnitter at the Danish bakery Ole & Steen, which has a few locations around NYC. Translated as “raspberry slices,” these consist of two layers of shortcrust pastry with a layer of raspberry jam in between, coated with a simple white icing. Ole & Steen’s version are beautifully decorated with freeze dried raspberries, and I love the way they slice them in an asymmetrical way, so I tried to replicate their style, but you can also cut these into neat squares (as Nilsson's book suggests) or rectangles.  Enjoy these as a very sweet breakfast or with a cup of tea in the afternoon.

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Ingredients

 

For the shortcrust:

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• 2 sticks (220 grams) cold salted butter, cubed (if you have unsalted butter, just add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the dough)

• 3 cups (350 grams) soft wheat flour (pastry, cake, or “00” flour)*

• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar, vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste**

• 1 1/4 cup (155 grams) confectioners sugar

• 1 egg

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*For this bake, I used Anson Mills Fine Cloth-Bolted Pastry Flour. 

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**The original recipe in Magnus Nilsson’s book calls for vanilla sugar, which is common in recipes around Europe, but I’ve never personally bought that in the United States, so I used vanilla bean paste as a substitute. You can also use vanilla extract.

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For the icing:

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• 2 cups confectioners sugar

• 3 tablespoons water

Additional ingredients:

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• 3/4 cup firm raspberry jam

• Freeze dried raspberries for garnish (optional), about 1/2 cup

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Step 1: Make the shortcrust dough

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In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and butter together until loosely incorporated. Add in egg and vanilla paste or extract, and pulse just until the dough is incorporated.

 

Form dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least an hour. 

 

Step 2: Roll out dough and bake the shortcrust

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Divide the dough in half and roll each portion out into a 12”x16” rectangle. I found the easiest way to do this was to roll each ball out in between two pieces of parchment paper. To do this, form the dough into a ball and place in between two equal size pieces of parchment (that are a little longer than your final size). Starting from the center, roll out gently, alternating between lengthwise and horizontally. You’ll need the dough to be longer on one side, so you can roll it more lengthwise to get that shape. 

 

Once you get to the right size, remove the top layer of parchment paper and transfer to a baking sheet, trimming any excess parchment.  Do the same for the second ball of dough.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. If you are placing them on two different racks, just make sure to switch the pans halfway through so they bake evenly. Bake until lightly golden. 

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Step 3: Cool and layer with jam

 

When the two pieces of shortcrust are about halfway done cooling, spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on one piece of shortcrust, then cover with the second piece of shortcrust. Press down gently to sandwich and let cool fully.
 

Step 4: Glaze and decorate

 

Prepare the glaze by mixing confectioner’s sugar with water. Start with 2 tablespoons of water and add more as needed until you get a spreadable glaze.

 

Spread glaze evenly over the top. Crush dried raspberries and sprinkle over for garnish, if desired.

 

Let glaze cool entirely, then slice into pieces. You can go for small squares, rectangles, or get creative! 

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