"Strip" Pastries

"Strip" pastries are that classic shortbread pastry from old-school bakeries: a thin sheet of shortcrust is baked in one piece, cut into strips, layered with apple jam, and topped with two-tone lemon icing. It's easier to make than it looks, and the taste is straight out of childhood. They're fantastic, I strongly recommend making them.

"Strip" Pastries

Old-school shortbread pastries: thin shortcrust sheets layered with apple jam and topped with two-tone lemon icing.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Icing setting time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Servings: 12 pastries

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Dough

• 350 g flour 300 g upfront, the rest as needed
• 200 g margarine
• 150 g sugar
• 1 chicken egg
• 0.5 tsp baking soda
• 1 ml lemon essence

Filling and Icing

• 150 g apple jam
• 50 g currant jam
• 200 g powdered sugar
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp water hot

Method

 

Dough

1. Put the sugar, diced margarine, egg and lemon essence in a deep bowl. Whisk into a smooth, fluffy mixture.
2. Sift in the flour with the baking soda - 300 g upfront - and knead the dough. Add a little more flour if needed.
3. Gather the dough into a ball and roll it out into a thin 0.5 cm sheet; it's easiest to do this right on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 190 °C.
4. Remove the finished base and immediately trim the edges, then cut it into even strips - I got 3 strips.

Icing and Assembly

1. For the icing, combine the powdered sugar, hot water and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth. Set aside a bit of the icing in a separate bowl, add the cocoa and mix - now you have two colors, white and chocolate. Transfer to piping bags.
2. Spread two strips with apple jam and stack them, then cover with the third strip. Spread its top with currant jam, or simply soak it with any syrup.
   
3. Spread the icing on top and let it set slightly. Then cut into pieces - the pastries are ready. Enjoy your meal!
   

Notes

Cut the shortcrust sheet right out of the oven while it's still warm - once cooled, it starts to crumble.

Tips

• Don't add all the flour at once: start with 300 g, and only add the rest if the dough is too soft.
• Roll it out right on the baking sheet to a 0.5 cm sheet - that way you won't need to transfer the thin base and risk breaking it.
• Cut it right out of the oven: a warm shortcrust sheet trims and cuts into even strips easily, while a cooled one starts to crumble.
• Two-tone icing: set aside some of the white icing and mix in a teaspoon of cocoa - piping bags make it easiest to draw the zigzag pattern.
• Instead of currant jam, you can simply soak the top with any syrup you like.