Linzer Torte

It was a busy start to November. I had 4 cake orders – one of the orders came from my brother who celebrated his birthday on the 1st of November. I told him that I would bake a cake for him. After much thought, he wanted a linzer torte.

What is a linzer torte? Well, linzer torte is a traditional Austrian pastry, a form of shortcake top with fruit preserve with a lattice design on top. They are made from flour, eggs, butter and ground hazelnut (usually) with some spices like cinnamon and cloves. Linzer torte is named after a city in Austria called Linz and it is considered as the oldest known cake in the world.

I was having a bit of a pastry problem today as it was a hot day – a sign that summer is on it’s way! It was a smoky day as well caused by fires burning in parts of NSW which resulted in hazardous air quality around Sydney region. It was a good day to stay indoor.

So back to my pastry – yes, I was having a pastry problem today because of the hot weather. It turned into a mush very quickly. However, I kept my chill. As it was a bit difficult to roll the dough so I’ve decided to just take the dough and press it on the baking tin. It turned out great regardless. If you live in a hot country, you can roll the pastry on a cold bench top. Chill your bench top by placing a freezer bag filled with ice cubes on it for a couple of minutes then wipe it dry before lightly flouring and rolling out your pastry. Also keep your ingredients ice cold in the fridge, especially the butter. If you have warm hands, try putting the flour and butter into a food processor – but be careful not to overdo it or else it would be too difficult to roll due to gluten formation in the flour. Get involve as less as possible!

According to sites like Austria.info, there are other recipes that suggest a softer dough, which is squeezed into the pan in a lattice shape using a piping bag. Maybe if you find that your pastry is too mush, you can use the piping bag method to shape your torte instead.

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Two of the important ingredients in a linzer torte are ground hazelnuts and redcurrant jam. It gave the torte delicious layers of rich and nutty flavored pastry sandwich together with a layer of jam. If you can’t find ground hazelnuts, you can substitute it with the same amount of ground almond. Since it’s not easy to find redcurrant jam in Sydney, I’ve used raspberry jam instead which might suit Aussie’s palate more. I finished it off with decorations of slice almonds around the torte.

For the lattice, I’ve used a fluted pastry cutter which I bought from a dollar shop. As you can see, it didn’t have a clear ruffled edges. So if you want a clear ruffled edges, invest some money in a good pastry cutter.

This recipe makes a 9″ size torte but I halved the recipe to make a 7″ torte.

The torte came out great. However, my brother didn’t like the strong nutty flavor of the pastry so much. So if you are like my brother, then by all means substitute the ground hazelnuts with ground almonds. I’m sure it works well too!

Tips:

1. Keep your ingredients ice cold in the fridge, especially the butter. Only take the butter out when you want to start making it.
2. If you can’t roll the dough properly, try scatter some flours to help it from sticking onto the board but not too much or else your pastry will become tougher. Or roll it between 2 sheets of lightly floured wax paper. Alternatively, you can just take the dough and press it onto the pan with your knuckles.
3. If you don’t have ground hazelnuts, you can always substitute it with ground almonds. Redcurrant jam with your choice of jam.
4. Don’t overdo it with the jam. You want to be able to taste the nuttiness from the pastry while having a good amount of sweetness or tartness from the jam.
5. If you have warm hands, try putting the flour and butter into a food processor – but be careful not to overdo it or else it would be too difficult to roll due to gluten formation in the flour.
6. Prick a few holes on the dough with a fork to allow the steam to escape while it’s baking. Or else, you will end up with uneven surface. I like to be safe than sorry.
7. Before coating it with egg wash, I put the torte back into the fridge so it can firm up a bit. I find that the torte holds its shape better if it is slightly chilled before baking.
8. If your oven has problem of uneven baking (like I have), you can turn the pan 180 degree half way through baking time.
9. Transfer the torte to a rack to cool, ideally leave it for a day, wrap with cling film.
10. You can keep this torte at room temperature for up to 4-6 days, keep it covered at all times. Or freeze it for longer shelf lives. If you like it warm, you can reheat in oven for about 5-10 mins at 170C.
11. You can make around 10-18 slices with this recipe using a 9″ pan. The portion will always depends on the size of slices you’ve cut. As a guideline, you can cut a generous portion of 10 slices, or a sensible portion of 18 slices. I halved the recipe to make a 7″ torte which serves around 6 generous slices and 10 sensible slices

Baking Equipment:

• Digital Measuring Scale (for accurate measurement)
• Bowl
• Fork
• Knife (to cut the butter in cubes)
• Fluted Pastry Cutter (for the lattice)
• Silicone Spatula (or just use your hands)
• Measuring Spoons
• 9″ Pie Pan (with removable bottom or any removable bottom cake pan)
• Pastry board
• Glass (to flatten the dough out evenly but optional)

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Recipe Note:

1. Keep butter in the fridge. Only take it out when you want to start making the torte.
2. You can substitute ground hazelnuts with ground almonds.
3. You can use any jam of your choice. Don’t overdo it with the jam. You want to be able to taste the nuttiness from the pastry while having a good amount of sweetness or tartness from the jam.
4. Omit if not available.
5. Before coating it with egg wash, I put the torte back into the fridge so it can firm up a bit. I find that the torte holds its shape better if it is slightly chilled before baking.

Nutrition Per Serving (Based on 10 generous servings without almond slices):

NUTRITION INFORMATION	AVE QUANTITY PER SERVING
Calories	476kcal
Protein	7.4g
Fat (total)	32.3g
– Saturated Fat	14.7g
Carbohydrate	37.7g
Sugars	18.8g
Sodium	130mg

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