National Baking Week - Linzer Torte recipe

National Baking Week – Linzer Torte recipe

/ Favourite Recipes, In the Kitchen /

National Baking Week – get your bake on!

National Baking Week is the perfect time for me to share my Linzer Torte recipe with you – it’s a favourite in our house! Dating from around 1653, and named after the Austrian town of Linz, the Linzer Torte is said to be the oldest known cake in the world, although who developed this delicious tea-time treat remains a mystery!

It is made from a melt in the mouth, very short, cumbly pastry and is traditionally filled with Redcurrant Jelly, but my favourite is to fill it with home made Raspberry Jam. You could use Home made Blackcurrant, Cherry or Apricot Jam as an alternative filling, and use ground hazelnuts instead of almonds for an delicious short, nutty pastry.

Hints & Tips:

The dough is really forgiving and can be lightly rolled or moulded using your fingers.  The trick is to make sure that it is well chilled before you bake it.

I have also found that good Jersey Butter works best as it has no added water.  It is harder to work because of this but worth the effort for the rich flavour!

What you can make with this recipe:

The recipe will make one large 20cm torte; four 12cm tartlets or eight 8cm mini tartlets.  You can also make Linzer biscuits in whatever shape you like and sandwich them together with the homemade jam.

INGREDIENTS:

 150 g Plain Flour

150 g Ground Almonds

100 g Fair-trade Golden Caster Sugar

Pinch Ground Cloves

Pinch Ground Cinnamon

1 x 5ml sp un-waxed Lemon Rind, grated

225 g English Butter, softened

2 medium Free-range Egg Yolks

1 x 5 ml sp Vanilla Essence

340 g Home-made Raspberry Jam

Milk for glazing

25 g Flaked Almonds

Icing Sugar for dusting

METHOD:

 Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan)/350°F/Gas Mark 4

  1. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the almonds, sugar, cloves, cinnamon and lemon peel
  2. Beat in the butter, egg yolks and vanilla and make a smooth dough
  3. Form the dough into a ball, place in a plastic bag and chill in the refrigerator for one hour
  4. Take three quarters of the dough from the bag, returning the remaining quarter to the fridge
  5. Lightly butter a 20cm flan ring, stand on a baking tray covered with a silicone baking sheet (or a loose bottomed sandwich or flan tin), add the dough and press it out with your fingers to form a pastry shell. (See hints and tips)
  6. Spoon the Raspberry Jam evenly into the shell
  7. On a floured surface, roll out the remaining dough and cut it into wide strips to closely lattice the top of the jam
  8. Neaten and flatten the edges of the dough to make a border, brush with milk and sprinkle the edges with the flaked almonds.
  9. Pop the Linzer torte into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
  10. Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the dessert is golden brown
  11. Leave to cool for approx 10 minutes before slipping the flan ring off.  Use the silicone baking sheet to transfer the dessert onto a serving plate when cool.
  12. Dust with icing sugar and serve with single cream or crème fraiche – delicious!

Serves 8                                                                                                          

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