Linzer Torte
Linzer Torte is believed to be the oldest known cake in the world. According to Wikipedia, Linzer Torte is an Austrian cake with a lattice design on top of the pastry. The cake is named after the city of Linz in Austria.
Even though it is said to be the oldest cake in the world nobody really knows exactly when it was invented. The oldest recipe that has been found is from 1653. Linzer Torte is often eaten at Christmas in Austria, Hungaria, Switzerland, Germany, and as a Tirolean tradition.
The Linzer Torte is originally made with red currant jam. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get red currant jam so I substituted for raspberry. I used a recipe from the Austrian Tourism website as a base for the torte. I decided to make Linzer torte for my ‘Baking My Way Around The World‘ challenge.
How To Make Linzer Torte
You’ll need flour, hazelnuts, almonds, jam (preferably red currant), light brown sugar, butter, lemon zest, cloves, cinnamon, salt and some thinly sliced almonds for decoration. (The full list of ingredients including measurements can be found in the recipe card below.)
Add your blanched almonds to a blender.
Add the blanched hazelnuts to the almonds.
Grind the nuts.
Add flour to a bowl.
Add the ground nuts.
Some salt.
Add cloves.
Add the cinnamon.
Add lemon zest.
Add the light brown sugar.
And add the butter. I pre cut the butter in little cubes.
Use a pastry blender or two knifes to cut the butter into the other ingredients until crumbly.
When you have a crumbly mixture, add the egg.
Knead into a dough. When you can form the dough into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Take about 2/3 of the the dough and press it into a 10 inch baking tin (26 cm).
Make sure you have a nice, thick edge of roughly half an inch (1 cm).
Add your jam, make sure to fully coat the bottom of the torte.
Cut the remaining dough into strips.
Add the strips to the torte and make a nice lattice pattern.
Brush the dough with some egg yolk.
Decorate the Linzer Torte with some thinly sliced almonds and bake in the oven for 30-60 minutes.
Doesn’t it look gorgeous? Just looking at the photo now makes me crave this delicious Linzer Torte again!
| Prep Time | 25 minuten |
| Cook Time | 60 minutes |
| Passive Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
slices |
- 2/3 cup blanched almonds 75 g
- 1/2 cup blanched hazelnuts 75 g
- 2 cup all-purpose flour 250 g
- 1 cup butter 225 g
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar 130 g
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3/4 cup red currant jam 280 g - can substitute with raspberry jam
- 1 egg yolk
- thinly sliced almonds for decoration
Ingredients
| |
- Grind the almonds and hazelnuts. Then add the ground nuts to a bowl. Add the flour, salt, cloves, cinnamon, lemon zest, light brown sugar and butter. Use a pastry blender or two knifes to cut the butter into the other ingredients until crumbly.
- When you have a crumbly mixture, add the egg. Use your hands to knead into a dough. When you can form the dough into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven at 175 °C / 350 °F.
- Take about 2/3 of the the dough and press it into a 10 inch baking tin (26 cm). Make sure you fully cover the bottom and have a nice, thick edge of roughly half an inch (1 cm).
- Add your jam to the torte, make sure to fully coat the bottom.
- Cut the remaining dough into strips. Add the strips to the torte and make a nice lattice pattern. Brush the dough with some egg yolk.
- Decorate the Linzer Torte with some thinly sliced almonds and bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes.
Please note that the cup measurements in this recipe are approximate. I have added cups for those that prefer using cups. The recipe is most accurate using weights measurements.
The cooking time is a bit generic. 30-60 min.. which is it? Does it depend on the type of oven? I’d love to make this so I’d like to know exactly what the cooking time is. Thanks
Apologies, it was a typo, it should be about 45-60 minutes, I’ve updated the recipe accordingly. Every oven is different, depending on your oven it could be between 45 to 60 minutes.
If I feel the tart could use a little more color I keep it in longer to make sure the dough is cooked.