The ancient recipe of Linzer Cake it has come down to us starting from very ancient origins. It is a crumbly and soft tart made with shortcrust pastry containing almond or hazelnut flour, stuffed with a currant jam that gives a more acidic contrast and decorated with sliced ​​almonds. Its story begins in Linz, Austria, and travels the world over the years becoming one of the most famous recipes ever. Let’s see how to prepare the Austrian linzer cake, different from the classic one pie and typical of the Christmas period, with our traditional recipe.

Preparation

1

Start by placing the soft butter and sugar in a bowl and whipping them with the electric whisk.

2

Add the egg and continue beating.

3

Continue to mix the ingredients until you get a homogeneous mixture without lumps.

4

Add the cinnamon powder and mix.

5

Also add the baking powder.

6

Finally, add the almond flour and work it all with a kitchen spatula.

7

Once the ingredients are incorporated, add the flour and milk. Then mix everything with your hands.

8

Once the liquids are well absorbed, turn the pastry dough over onto a floured pastry board and knead quickly for about 2 minutes.

9

Form a smooth and homogeneous dough.

10

Take 3/4 of the dough and roll them out with the help of a rolling pin, to form a round disc with a thickness of 5 mm.

11

Transfer the shortcrust pastry disc into the tart mold with a diameter of 24 cm, removing the excess from the edges. Fill the tart shape with the currant jam, spreading it out evenly.

12

Take the rest of the shortcrust pastry and form some cords that will be placed on the jam to form a woven grid.

13

In a small bowl, quickly beat an egg

14

Brush the beaten egg on the edge and on the strips of the tart, using a kitchen brush.

15

Decorate the edge of the tart with the almond flakes. Finally, bake the cake in a preheated static oven at 170 ° for 45 minutes. When cooked, take the tart out of the oven, let it cool and then remove it from the mold. Sprinkle the Linzer cakes with icing sugar and finally serve!

Accessories

• A large bowl and a small one
• Electric (or planetary) hand mixer
• Kitchen spatula
• Pastry board
• Rolling pin
• Tart mold with a diameter of 26 cm
• Silicone kitchen brush
• Sieve

Tips and tricks

• The original recipe of the Linzer Cake involves the use of currant jam, but you can replace it with jams of other berries: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. There are also those who flavor the pastry dough with half a teaspoon of powdered cloves.
• In our Linzer torte recipe we used almond flour, but you can replace it with hazelnut or walnut flour. One of the circulating versions of this Austrian cake also involves adding a shot of brandy or rum to the dough.
• If you don’t have almond, walnut or hazelnut flour, get the shelled dried fruits and chop them in a mixer, adding a tablespoon of granulated sugar (amount that you will have to subtract from the total to be added to the dough)
• If the shortcrust pastry dough should turn out too soft and difficult to handle, we advise you to let it rest for at least half an hour in the refrigerator, in order to make it firm. If necessary, add more flour. If the dough is very soft, alternatively, you could use one sac à poche to distribute it in the tart mold. Starting from the outer edges and moving towards the center, form a spiral that covers the bottom. In this case, proceed with the same tool to create the typical Linzer torte surface network.
• Traditionally, in the preparation of Linzer torte, one was placed in order to avoid too much humidity being formed during cooking layer of hosts between the shortcrust pastry and the currant jam. The hosts, in fact, act as an insulator. You can try for an optimal result of your typical Austrian tart.

storage

Store the Linzer cakes under a glass bell jar at room temperature and consume it within 3/4 days at the latest. It is possible to freeze only the shortcrust pastry by wrapping it in cling film. In this case, use it and consume it within 1 month.

History

The origins of the Linzer (or Linz) cake recipe would be among the oldest in the world. The first written evidence of the existence of this recipe it would date back to 1653. But in addition to the concrete facts, what surrounds Linzer torte is a set of folk tales, handed down through the generations, of which there is no historical certainty.

It is said that the invention of this Austrian cake was a confectioner from Vienna who was called Linzer. But the famous turning point of this recipe came thanks to a certain Johann Konrad Vogel who, in 1822, began working in a Linz pastry shop where he fell in love with the owner. The story goes that the two got married and began to produce Linzer torte in large numbers, making it known in the rest of Europe.

It would then have been an Austrian traveler, named Franz Hölzlhuber, to bring the recipe for this tart to the United States in 1850, precisely to Milwaukee (in Wisconsin). From here it is said that the Linzer tart would have started its spread also in America. Today it remains a symbol of the Christmas festivities of Austria, but also of Hungary, Germany, Switzerland and the thirties and Südtirol. Overseas, however, it is often prepared in the form of biscuits or canapés.