Linzer Torte by Ute Perkovic

Country: Germany - Pre-1900's recipe​

Prep. time/ Cook time: 1.5 hours from start to finish

Ingredients (makes two Linzer Torte):

• White flour - 625ml

• Sugar - 200ml

• Cinnamon - 1 flat tsp.

• Baking Powder - 2 flat tsp.

• Ground cloves – dip the tip of the paring knife into the ground cloves so that there is no more than ¼” (heaping) of it on the tip of the knife.

• Cocoa - 2 heaping tbsp.

• Ground shelled hazelnuts - 100g

• 3 extra-large size eggs or 4 medium size eggs

• Unsalted butter - 125g​

• Raspberry or Red Currant preserves or jam – 250ml.

• Optional - icing sugar – small bag

Steps:

1. Making the dough: Using the baking scale, measure out 100 grams of shelled hazelnuts
2. Using the nut grinder, grind the hazelnuts into a bowl.
3. Pour flour onto the counter and make a well in the center to hold all the other ingredients.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients above (EXCEPT for the preserves or jam and the icing sugar) into the centre of the flour well.
5. With a knife, chop up the unsalted butter into pieces so it will be easier to mix all the ingredients together.
6. With your hands, fold the flour into the middle and mix the ingredients together until you get a big brown ball of dough.
7. Split the dough in half – one half for each springform.
8. Pre-heating and preparing the baking springform: Have a rack available for the middle of the oven.
9. Pre-heat your oven to 375 F or 191 C.
10. Use some butter to grease the bottom and the side of each springform
11. Sprinkle some flour in each pan and pat the sides of the pan to cover-over where it was greased.
12. Dispose of the remaining flour.
13. Adding the dough and preserves or jam into the springform: Take one of the dough balls and break off about a ¼ of it to save for the top of the torte.
14. Take the remaining ¾ dough ball and roll it out with the rolling pin into about 3/8” thick, and 9.5” or so in diameter.
15. Place the 9” springform on the rolled dough and then trace around the springform with the pastry wheel, cutting through the dough so you have a round bottom of dough to place into the springform.
16. Using the baking spatula, carefully lift/peel the dough circle off of the counter and lay it into the springform.
17. With a teaspoon, evenly spread the raspberry or red currant preserves or jam onto the top of the dough, giving it a coating of no more than a ¼” thick.
18. Then, with the remaining dough, roll it out as thin as you can make it (not too thin, though) so that you can use the pastry wheel to cut out ½” wide strips to place in a lattice/crisscross pattern over the preserves, and then around the circumference to “frame” the torte.
19. REPEAT process for 2nd springform Baking and cooling of the torte: Place both springforms into the oven, on the middle rack, for about 35 minutes.
20. When done, remove the torte from the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack or potholders for at least 45 minutes.
21. Remove the sides (sides only) of the springforms.
22. Optional - dust the Linzer Torte with icing sugar.
23. Leave the torte on the bottom of the springform until the cake has totally cooled – at least 2 to 3 hours.
24. If you remove the Linzer Torte from the springform bottom before it is fully cooled, the torte might BREAK.
25. Once fully cooled, carefully remove the springform bottom from the torte, and place the torte in a large sealing plastic bag to preserve freshness for eating later in the week, or freeze it for eating much later.
26. Cut it into slices as you would cut a pie.

Equipment Needed:

Oven, counter to mix ingredients, 2 springform baking pans (9”), pastry wheel, rolling pin, nut grinder, paring knife, baking scale, measuring cup - milliliters, teaspoon, tablespoon, long baking spatula (9.5” long), fine strainer (i.e., for dusting icing sugar on a cake).

Tips/Tricks:

I know you might love cinnamon but don’t add too much or it will hi-jack the flavour of the cake. Do not substitute jelly for jam as it will ruin the torte.

Why this recipe?