Ingredients
Pastry
- 200 gplain flour
- 200 gground hazelnuts or almonds
- 200 gbutter, cold
- 150 gsugar
- 2egg yolks
- 1 tspground cinnamon
- ½ tspground clove
- a pinch of salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsprum, optional
Filling
- 350 gredcurrant jam, thick
To finish
- 1egg, beaten
- flaked almonds
- icing sugar
Directions
- Rub the cold butter into the flour, ground nuts, sugar, spices, salt and zest until it resembles coarse crumbs. Bind with the egg yolks and rum into a soft dough, working it as little as possible.
- Wrap it and chill for at least 2 hours. Press two thirds of the dough into a loose-bottomed tin, pushing it up the sides to make a rim.
- Press it in with your fingers rather than rolling it. Spread the jam over the base, right to the rim, in an even layer. Use a properly thick jam. Roll the remaining dough between two sheets of baking paper, which is the only practical way to handle it.
- Chill the rolled sheet for 15 minutes, then cut strips with a knife or a fluted wheel. Chill it before cutting. Warm Linzer dough cannot be lifted in strips without breaking.
- Lay the strips over the jam in a lattice, working diagonally, and press the ends onto the rim. If a strip breaks, patch it in place with your fingers.
- Brush the lattice and rim with beaten egg and press flaked almonds around the edge. Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 45 to 50 minutes, until deep golden. Cool it completely in the tin before releasing, because the pastry is fragile while warm.
- Leave it a day before cutting. It is claimed as the oldest cake in the world for which a written recipe survives, from a 1653 manuscript in Verona, and it takes its name from Linz.
Technique
- Redcurrant is traditional; raspberry and plum are both common.
- It keeps for a week or more and travels well, which is why it was a gift cake.
- The lattice is traditionally laid diagonally rather than square.
Substitutions
- Ground almonds or walnuts in place of hazelnuts.
- Any sharp thick jam.
Variations
- Linzer Augen, small sandwich biscuits from the same dough.
- With plum butter, powidl, as a filling.
- Made without the lattice, as a plain jam-filled slab.
History
Named for the city of Linz; a recipe survives from 1653, among the oldest known written cake recipes.
Frequently asked questions
What is Linzer torte?
Linzer torte is a dessert from Austria: spiced nut pastry with redcurrant jam under a lattice top. Named for the city of Linz; a recipe survives from 1653, among the oldest known written cake recipes.
How long does Linzer torte take to make?
Linzer torte takes 40 min plus 2 hr chilling of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 torte. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Linzer torte?
Yes, within limits. Ground almonds or walnuts in place of hazelnuts. Any sharp thick jam.
What is the most important thing to get right in Linzer torte?
Press it in with your fingers rather than rolling it. Spread the jam over the base, right to the rim, in an even layer. Use a properly thick jam. Roll the remaining dough between two sheets of baking paper, which is the only practical way to handle it.
