The Weekly Kitchen: A Festive Raspberry Dessert for Christmas

By ANGELA McRAE, Special to The Weekly

Remember those elegant tins of hard candies with the filled centers that you used to see every Christmas? They can still be found every now and then, but when I was growing up, those candies were an essential part of Christmas celebrations. The berry-flavored candies weren’t something I’d thought about too often until I decided to make this raspberry dessert for Christmas, and boy, did it bring back some tasty memories!

This recipe hails from a vintage booklet I bought on eBay years ago titled Holiday Treats and Elegant Buffet Dishes, and it’s a collection of recipes that originated in the tearoom at Halle Brothers Co., a department store that operated in Cleveland, Ohio, until 1982.

I love raspberry-flavored treats, and a pretty red filling seems perfect for Christmas desserts, so once I discovered that this recipe calls for raspberry pie filling—and that said pie filling can be purchased at Walmart—I was all in.

The taste was all I hoped it would be. It has a cookie-type base and a tart raspberry filling, but the decadent topping is clearly what made shoppers of yesteryear absolutely love this treat! A 3-inch square slice makes a rich dessert, and a smaller-sized bar (about 1 x 3 inches) would make a fine addition to a dessert tray. Merry Christmas!

Halle’s Tearoom Raspberry Squares

Dough

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cold margarine (I used butter)
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling

2 cups raspberry pie filling (I used Duncan Hines brand)

Icing

1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup marshmallow créme
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
Garnish: 1 cup coconut

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and butter and blend well, just as you would a pie dough. (Following a tip I read in Southern Living years ago, I use a cheese grater and grate my cold butter before blending it into biscuits, scones, etc. It’s so much easier to get those “pea-sized” pieces that way.) In a small bowl, beat egg yolks, milk, and vanilla and add to dry ingredients, then combine all with a fork until well blended. Chill dough for one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out a little over half of the dough, rolling it quite thin. (I rolled mine between two pieces of wax paper, and the colder the dough, the better.) Place on a large (15.25 x 10.25-inch) greased cookie sheet. Spread with pie filling, almost to edges. Roll out the remainder of the dough very thin and place over the filling. Bake about 25 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely.

For icing, whip all ingredients together using an electric mixer and, when pan of cookies is completely cool, spread on top. Sprinkle with coconut. Cut into squares of desired size.

Note: Original recipe observes that “blueberry pie filling is equally delicious.”