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. 

"Nicholas And Alexandra," The Movie and History, Part One

This beautifully filmed 1971 movie, directed by Franklin Schaffner, who also directed "Patton," is "based" upon actual historical events as presented in the 1967 book of the same name by Robert K. Massie. Massie was motivated to write the book, as his son had hemophilia, just as Nicholas and Alexandra's son, Alexei, who had been afflicted with hemophilia in the early 1900s. Many years ago when I was in college, I had daytime classes, as well as some evening classes. One of the movie theaters a few blocks away had matinees on certain days with low price admission, and if there was a movie that interested me showing, I'd go there between classes. It's been so long ago I can't remember the price, but it could well have been like fifty or seventy-five cents, but remember, this was the early 1970s in money value. Anyway, that's how I first saw "Nicholas and Alexandra," although they may have charged a little more for admission to see it. The movie is more than three hours long and is available on DVD.

History shows us that Nicholas was not prepared to become the Tsar of Russia, as his father, Tsar Alexander III, was a huge man, who some have said was symbolic of the "Russian bear." He was physically strong, but also strong and confident in his beliefs, and he acted decisively when so required. This all led people to believe he would continue as Tsar for many more years, but at the age of only 49, Alexander III took ill with kidney disease and died within a few months. This brought his eldest son Nicholas to the throne of Russia at the age of 26. While Alexander III was a big man, Nicholas took after his much smaller mother, Marie, who was a Danish princess. Throughout his life Nicholas found himself being unfavorably compared to his father, both in physical stature and ruling stature, a fact mentioned in the movie.

Alexandra, her Russian name, as her real name was "Alix," a German rendering of her mother's name, Alice, was born as a princess and a Lutheran in the German Grand Duchy of Hessen und bei Rhein, at Darmstadt. Her mother died when Alix was only six years old. This brought her maternal grandmother to assume the duties of providing for the young girl's education through tutors and, to a great extent, for her general upbringing. Who was her grandmother? None other than Queen Victoria of England, as Alice had been her daughter. So as some historians have pointed out, Alix was born a German, but raised more as an Englishwoman. She spent much time with her grandmother in England, where the queen taught her about "noblesse oblige;" that is, the idea that noble birth requires the person to act responsibly and with charity toward those less fortunate. It was a concept Alix continued to pursue to a "selective" extent when she became Tsarina of Russia, but with limited success. It is important to remember, Alix was born in Germany, a "limited" constitutional monarchy, where the Kaiser (emperor) was "somewhat limited" in his authority by the elected representatives of the Reichstag (the German parliament), and she spent long periods of time in England with her grandmother, where the British monarchy was much more of a constitutional monarchy, and where Parliament had much more say. So she had seen and experienced democracy to varying degrees. When she married Nicholas, she married into an "autocracy" (see Word History below); that is, a nation governed by someone with unlimited power. There was NO legislative body of representatives elected by the Russian people at the time of Alix's arrival in Russia, although that did come, but not until much later.

Alexander III's death not only brought an unprepared Nicholas to the Russian throne, it brought the hurried marriage of Nicholas and Alix. Alix had at first turned down Nicholas's marriage proposal, as in order to marry him, Russian law required that she would have to convert to Russian Orthodoxy. She eventually relented, and she was rushed through her religious instruction, but more especially her learning of the Russian language was not far enough along for her to feel confident in its use.* This began a division with her Russian subjects right from the start, as Alix suffered from what some have described as pathological shyness (depicted in the movie), and the insecurity of her limited knowledge of Russian left her appearing cold and haughty to many Russians. Further, Russian society was dominated by a very small number of nobles and aristocrats, and that society had little, if anything, in common with her upbringing in Germany and England. Her "Victorian" values were neither appreciated nor welcomed by Russian high society, where extramarital affairs were commonplace and pretty much expected. She later tried to form sewing and knitting circles to make clothing for the poor, but the whole thing was not a great success, as many Russian society women had disdain for such an idea. In the Russian high society, the nobility and the aristocrats flaunted their wealth and power.

The rest in "Part Two" ...

* Like English, Russian is an Indo European language, but from the Slavic branch, so further down the family tree of English, which is from the Germanic branch. Further, Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet. While her Russian improved over time, Alix and Nicholas conversed in English! As I recall, she spoke to her children in English and German, and indeed often instructed them in both languages. Nicholas spoke to his children in Russian. Nicholas was related to English royalty, as his mother's sister was married to Queen Victoria's son Edward, who would later become King Edward VII (of cigar fame), when his mother passed away. Hopefully not to confuse you, but in case you haven't noticed, Edward was Alix's uncle, as he was her mother's brother. Nicholas was also closely connected to the German nobility, as both of his grandmothers were Germans, and both, like his wife Alix, were from Hessen!  
 
Photo from the Columbia Pictures DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Autocrat-This compound word, meaning "a person with absolute/total power," was borrowed from French circa 1800. The word had come from Greek "autokrates," which meant "ruling singly, ruling by oneself." This came from Greek "autos," a word of uncertain derivation, meaning "self," and "kratia," which meant "rule," from Greek "kratos," which meant "power, strength." This came from Indo European "kretis" ("power/strength") from the root "ker/kre," which had the notion of "hard," giving the further notion of "strength," and thus, "power."