Latvian Alexander Cake

Latvia is one of the Baltic States. Latvian, the language, is from the Baltic branch of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo European languages. Its cousin, Lithuanian, resides next door, but the other relatives of these two languages have died out, including Prussian. *

Popular recipes can be shrouded in legend, and so it may be with this cake, which is a type of shortcake, with variations in the overall recipe, although the basic premise is the same: a kind of shortcake made in two layers with some fruit preserves or jam in between the layers. The cake is cut into squares, or other shapes for serving. I read many articles about this cake, and most mention it being made originally for Tsar Alexander upon a visit he made to Latvia, which was long part of the Russian Empire. The thing is, there were THREE Tsar Alexanders in Russian history, but only one history mentioned the cake being made for Tsar Alexander I, who ruled from 1801 until 1825, while another article mentioned the cake was made in honor of Tsar Alexander III, who ruled from 1881 to 1894. The cake's popularity spread throughout northeastern Europe, with versions in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania and northeastern Germany (then known as the German state of Prussia). 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
2 sticks of butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 tablespoons sour cream 
1/2 teaspoon salt ONLY if you use unsalted butter
1/2 cup raspberry preserves (seedless is fine)
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Beat the sugar and butter together with a mixer. Add and mix in the vanilla, salt (if using), sour cream and baking powder. Gradually mix in the flour to form the dough. Gather dough into a ball, cover  and let sit in refrigerator for about 30 to 45 minutes. Heat oven to 325 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough in two. Press one half the dough into a thin square layer on one part of the baking sheet; then repeat with the other half of the dough, making sure the two squares are close to the same size. Bake for 20 to minutes, or until just barely browning on top. Remove from the oven and let cool. Make sure the two parts are not stuck to the parchment paper. While the cake is cooling, in a bowl, mix together the lemon juice, the grated lemon peel and the confectioner's sugar until smooth; set aside. Smear a layer of the raspberry preserves onto one half of the cake, leaving just a small margin around the edge. Use a large spatula to carefully lift the other half of the cake onto the top of the first (the top of the second layer will now by the top of the cake). Press down gently just to the point where the raspberry preserves come to the edge of the cake (that's why you need to leave that margin I mentioned above). Spread the icing over the top of the cake. Carefully cut the cake into squares for serving.  

* "Prussian" is a term that came to be associated with Germans living in the territory of "Prussia," in northeastern Europe. That territory had been occupied by Baltic language speaking Prussians, who were gradually absorbed into the German population which settled there. The confusing thing was, the name "Prussia" not only remained as the name of the region, but it became famous as a German province and state, which became the entity ruled by the Hohenzollern German noble family. 

WORD HISTORY:
Scribe-This word, related to "scribble," goes back to the Indo European root "sker," which had the notion "to cut, to scrape." This gave Latin "scribere," which meant "to scratch, to carve, to write," which then produced the noun "scriba," which meant "writer of religious or official documents." This was borrowed by English from Latin in the 1300s.^ The verb form, "(to) scribe" (to write), has the same basic history, but the word itself tends to be used more in various compounds like, "describe," "inscribe," "prescribe." Modern German still uses "schreiben" as its verb form for "to write," Low German uses "schrieven," Dutch uses "schrijven" and West Frisian uses "skriuve."

^ Old English had "scrifan" from the same Latin source, but it was often used in the religious context of "hear confession, impose penance;" and it has evolved into modern English as "shrive;" thus, while its very initial meaning likely was "to write," that meaning died out having been overtaken by the religious meaning above, and by English use of it own Germanic word that is "write" in modern times.