Need Linzer Torte Recipe

Old Viennese Family Recipe for Linzer Torte, adapted for today.

Linzer Torte

1/2 lb unsalted butter or margarine, softened at room temperature

1/2 lb blanched and finely ground almonds

2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar

4 large egg yolks

juice and grated peel from half a large lemon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Unflavored (white) breadcrumbs

Cream butter and sugar, add and mix in the egg yolks, add the flour and ground almonds and other ingredients. Mix with wooden spoon until everything is well combined. You may have to use your fingers to incorporate everything.

Grease and flour three 9" pie plates. With two spoons or your fingers, press half the dough into the three prepared pie plates, about 1/4" thick. Sprinkle dough with breadcrumbs. Spread with Apricot or Raspberry jam. With saved dough, make lattice coverings for the Torten, by rolling pieces of dough between your palms, flattening the resulting thin strands of dough and placing them criss-cross over the jam to form a lattice top.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven about 45 or 50 minutes. Cool and dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.

"Susan E Desjardins" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@nap.mtholyoke.edu...

Here you go :)

Do you really need all that flour? I'd use only the ground almonds. We also sometimes use ground roasted hazelnuts as well - lovely flavour and less expensive.

Much more sugar than I'd use, that's for certain. Since a Linzer has the jam filling, you don't want the cake to be too sweet. Try 1/2 cup of brown sugar, dissolved into melted butter or margarine, then put the dough in the fridge before trying to shape the lattice.

Go on... use *more* cloves and cinnamon. One teaspoon of cloves and at least a tablespoon of cinnamon - really lovely!

You've got me there - why bread crumbs?

I see. Why? That would just make spreading the jam more difficult. I wouldn't bother with that bit, myself.

You'll find that as raspberry has seeds it might not be such a good idea. The classic (according to my Austrian born mother-in-law) is using plum jam (known as "povidel" - not sure of the spelling). I also dilute it a bit with hot water for easier spreading.

I wouldn't bother with dusting it with sugar, but that's just me.

(Just my tips. Haven't made a Linzer in years since my kids don't like cakes with nuts in them - damn them!)

Why is it that there is always some "expert" ready to tear something down instead of offering help ???? All I see here criticism of a recipe. That is not help. Why not post "your" recipe for Linzer Torte instead ??? _________________________________________________________-

I'm truly sorry you took my post as criticism. I was trying to show some alternatives to the posted recipe - I didn't mean to infer that the posted recipe was inferior in any way. I'm at work right now so I don't have my recipe at hand (and I was posting from memory, since I haven't made the Linzer for years), but I will try to find and post the recipe I have as soon as I can.

Again, I really didn't mean to insult anyone or their recipes.

I have no idea how the dough would be without flour, but using the amount specified in the recipe makes for a nice consistency. I have used finely ground hazelnuts, hazelnuts, but not toasted, which is not a traditional flavor for this cake. Here in New York City, almonds and hazelnuts cost the same, so I use mostly almonds for this cake and for Vanilla Crescents. I have not made Linzer Torte for several years now.

BROWN SUGAR in Linzer Torte? With the dominant flavor of molasses? Also, how would it alter the texture of the dough? I cannot imagine a molasses flavored Linzer Torte.

Again, you are killing the rather delicate flavors of the traditional cake. The cloves and cinnamon are supposed to enhance the flavors, not drown them out. With your additions, all you would taste are the cinnamon, the cloves and the molasses. The elimination of the flour and the toasting of the hazelnuts would be interesting, but not produce anything that would approximate the dough from the recipe.

It might make a might fine Torte, but not a Linzer one.

I imagine that the recipe, which is very old, is from a time when the jams and preserves were homemade and may have been runnier than the ones, mostly commercial, of today. Thus the breadcrumbs may have been a buffer between the bottom crust and the jam, absorbing some of the liquids. That is my guess, but until you mentioned it, I never gave it a thought.

It probably doesn't matter. I don't find spreading the jam difficult, but as I said, it probably does not matter at all.

I have never seen nor tasted a Linzer Torte made with Powidl (Lekvar). I use Apricot Jam, unless someone specifically asks for Raspberry filling. The little seeds do not seem to bother them. However, since my husband died, I have made this cake only once or twice. I am not especially fond of sweets and my preferred dessert is a nice, crunchy piece of French Baguette with cheese and a glass of red wine. :o)

It makes it look pretty, that's all and it is just a dusting, so there really is not much added sugar.

Every Person To His/Her Taste.

Happy New Year, M

Recipe snipped

Louis Toth, How nice of you to try and speak up for another poster! I was somewhat surprised by Davida's post, but I did not mind the criticism. After all, she and I are old friends and she just did not like my recipe in comparison to her mother in law's.

Had there been hurt feelings, your chivalrous post would have wiped them out in a microsecond. :o)

Thank you for this kindness and accept my best wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Peaceful New Year, Margaret

Whoa, that's a *lot* of clove, isn't it? I've found a little clove to go a very long way, especially if it's freshly ground. I do like cloves (they figure prominently in my molasses-ginger cookies), but they're mighty powerful.

I'm not commenting on (Linzer) tortes per se, but in almost any baked recipe, I don't generally see more than 1/2 tsp of cloves, with 1/4 being more common.

BTW, while looking around for other recipes that use cloves, for comparison purposes, I came across the following, which I thought looked interesting:

Spiced Chocolate Macaroons

Ingredients: 8 ounces (1-1/2 cups) blanched almonds or slivered almonds 1 cup sugar 1-1/2 teaspoons McCormick Ground Cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon McCormick Ground Cloves 4 ounces unsweetened or semisweet chocolate, chopped 2 egg whites 1 tablespoon kirsch or water 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a food processor bowl fitted with a metal blade, combine almonds, 1 cup sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Cover and process just until nuts are finely ground. Add chocolate. Cover and process until chocolate is finely grated, but not melted. Add egg whites and kirsch. Cover and process just until dough clings together.
3. Place 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls (dough will be sticky). Roll balls in the sugar to coat.
4. Place balls about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a glass, flatten balls to about 1/4-inch thickness.
5. Bake in a 325?F oven 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are set but centers remain moist. Do not overbake. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. Makes about 48 cookies.

One of the very few times I've had a Linzer Torte was in Vienna or Graz, Austria and it was made with Lekvar; it was the first one I ever had. I loved it. I've also had one or two with Raspberry here in the United States, but it is the one with Lekvar that I really liked. I've not seen one made with apricot. Dee

Hm... now that you mention it... you may be right. But I think I'd still use more cinnamon in my recipe.

(We're cinnamon lovers in our house.)

My mother-in-law was from Vienna, and she always made it with Kekvar - where she got her recipe from, I don't know. When we were in Austria we went to Linz, and knowing that the torte originated there, I just had to have some. If I recall correctly, their Linzer was with Lekvar. I also don't recall seeing it with apricot jam, but I have seen it with strawberry and cherry jam, but only outside of Austria.

My mother-in-law's recipe was one she used during Passover so I'm certain she never used any flour in it. It could just be an adjusted for Passover version.

I know that hazelnuts aren't traditional for a Linzer, but we got used to the taste over the years. Why they're less expensive than almonds here, I'll never know - since almond trees grow everywhere in this country.

Light brown sugar, actually - that has a much milder flavor, almost unnoticeable in cakes. That's another one of my mother-in-law's own changes. She was religiously opposed to refined white sugar, and substituted for it in many creative ways. For instance, instead of sugar in her cheesecake, she reconstituted dried apricots and ground them into a paste. Seriously!

"Scott" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net...

Perhaps I'm too late, but while I'm putting my cookbooks in order I found "Mehlspeisen aus Österreich with the following recipe

-==== REZKONV-Recipe - RezkonvSuite v0.98

Title: Linzertorte Categories: Cake, Austria Yield: 1 Recipe

250 grams (8.8 oz.) Butter 250 grams (8.8 oz.) Sugar 3 Eggs 270 grams (9.5 oz.) Peeled and grated almonds 250 grams (8.8 oz.) Flour 1 1/2 teasp. Baking powder 1 Egg, whisked for brushing 1 1/2 teasp. Ground cinnamon Grated lemon peel 100 grams (3.5 oz.) Red currant jam for spreading, ca.

============================== SOURCE ============================== Eva Barkos, Mehlspeisen aus Oesterreich 1995 -- Edited *RK* 12/29/2004 by -- Ulrike Westphal

Mix butter and sugar until foamy, add eggs, almonds, flour, bading powder, cinnamon and lemon peel.

Fill two thirds of the dough into a buttered and floured round pan (26 cm = 10 "). Give the remaining third of dough into a pastry press and form a lattice. (Alternatively you can form the remaining dough with flour to long rolls and form a lattice.) Brush with the whisked egg and bake at 175 - 200 °C (350 - 390 °F) for 20 - 30 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool, than spread the jam between the lattice.

You also can give a wafer on the unbaked dough, spread the jam and than form the lattice.

=====

Ulrike

I made my dough (it is now settling in the fridge) for a linzer torte cookie tonight and totally neglected to add the one teaspoon of lemon zest. Will this be a problem when the cookie is eventually cooked? What does the one teaspoon of lemon zest really do, anyway?

HS.

Susan E Desjard> If anyone could share a Linzer Torte recipe I would appreciate it.

Its only for flavor.