Original Linzer Torte

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Original Linzer torte, the famous Austrian cake with shortcrust pastry and redcurrant jam. Easy to make and sure to please anyone.

Linzer Torte Recipe

This original Linzer torte is a simple but unbelievably tasty cake made with shortcrust pastry, covered with redcurrant jam, and topped with a pastry lattice or stars. Really, can it get any simpler? Yet the taste is rich due to the almond pastry, sweet while still refreshing thanks to the sweet and sour redcurrant jam.

I have always liked the Linzer cookies and I have been making them every December for years now. And it was time to bake the original Linzer torte again, the Austrian classic cookie cake.

I wanted to bake a cake a few weeks ago and while searching for something in the cellar, I’ve noticed that I still have 3 large jars of redcurrant jam I’ve made 2 years ago.

I immediately thought of making the cookies, but then thought that October is definitely too early to start making cookies. So I settled to make the Linzer torte instead and this was the result. I hope you like it!

How to make?

Shortcrust pastry:

• I recommend weighing the ingredients on a kitchen scale, it yields the best result when baking.
• A twist from the regular shortcrust pastry, which is made with only flour, butter, and sugar.
• For this Linzer pastry, you will also need ground almonds and some unsweetened cocoa powder.
• You will need 4 egg yolks to make the pastry, more than a regular shortcrust pastry, but it is the yolks that make this recipe so deliciously rich and satisfying.
• Make sure that the butter is unsalted and it is very cold. Cut it into small pieces and add them to the dry ingredients.
• Process everything shortly until the pastry resembles breadcrumbs.
• Turn this mixture onto the working surface and knead very very shortly until you obtain a smooth dough.
• Cover the pastry in plastic foil and place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Tips for rolling the dough

• It is preferable to use a loose-bottomed pie dish, it will be easier for you to remove the pie from the form. I bought mine almost 10 years ago and I use it all the time. It still looks as good as new, so I guess it was a good investment.
• Roll 2/3 of the dough between two sheets of baking paper (or with the help of a little extra flour on the working surface and on the rolling pin).
• Roll the pastry about 1 cm/0.4 inch thick and slightly larger than the pie dish.
• Remove the baking paper on top and use the lower piece to turn the cake into the pie form. Remove the second piece of baking paper as well.
• Press the pastry into the form and remove the excess hanging over the edges of the form.
• Roll the remaining dough about 5 mm/0.2 inch thick and either cut out stripes to form the lattice or cut out shapes using star cookie cutters of different sizes (or heart/flowers/teddies cutters, whatever).
• Instead of the usual lattice on top of the cake, I went for the stars. I found it prettier and the children were able to help me make the Linzer torte this way.
• And cutting stars instead of making a lattice is soooo much easier, so I definitely recommend it!
• But if you like to make the traditional lattice instead, please do, it will not change anything but the look of the cake.

What to do with leftover pastry?

• There will be some dough leftover, in the end, I used that to make more stars and bake them as well.
• We ate those as cookies over the next few days.
• If you don’t feel like making cookies, you can freeze the extra pastry and use it another time for making cookies.