Linzertorte

Here is my revisited, even more festive (thanks to the stars) recipe for the Linzertorte. It’s a tart; sometimes a pie, that comes to us from Austria (Linz is a town in Austria), and it’s popular too in both Hungary and the Alsace region of France. The crust is extremely crumbly and tasty, with its hazelnuts and cinnamon. I’m telling you ahead of time, because when I say crumbly, I mean crumbly. It is filled with a berry jam: use raspberry, blueberry, or whatever takes your fancy. The version I give here calls for blueberries, because it forms a dark sky that shows off the stars. I also use a more traditional raspberry jam.

Recipe for Linzertorte (serves 6, one 9-inch / 24 cm tart)

Linzertorte crust (crumbly, with just a hint of sweetness):

• 1/3 cup / 100 g egg yolks (about 5 yolks)
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup / 55 g ground hazelnuts
• ¼ cup / 55 g sugar
• 2 ¼ cups / 275 g flour
• 1 ¾ sticks plus 2 teaspoons / 210 g butter, well chilled and diced.
• 1 teaspoon rum, optional

• 1 jar of jam: blueberry, raspberry, or mixed red fruit. NB: make sure it’s low in sugar.

Place the egg yolks, cinnamon, baking powder, ground hazelnuts, sugar and flour in the bowl of a stand mixer (or mixing bowl).

Add the diced butter and rum, if using.

Beat with the paddle (K) beater until just combined and smooth, and no more! You can also use a pastry cutter.

Roll out the dough very thinly. It should be about 1/8 inch / 2 mm thick. You’ll have enough to line the tart ring and make the topping. Keep in mind that it will barely rise, since it contains no egg whites and only the merest hint of baking powder.

Line a tart ring or square, or other tart pan of your choice.

 

Attendees of my tartlet classes have become true pros. This recipe is a cinch for them.

Pour the jam over the dough. It’s best to use a homemade, low-sugar jam, or else a low-sugar store-bought product. With ordinary jam, the tart would be far too sweet.

Spread it out evenly.

Using the remaining dough, cut out strips (for the classic version, see method below) or stars for the Christmas version.

 

Arrange the stars over the jam.

Bake at 350°F / 175°C for 50 minutes, keeping a careful eye on it. The jam will bubble (this is normal) and the crust must be well done and a nice golden color.

 

Transfer to a cooling rack and carefully remove the tart ring (or leave to cool on the base of the tart pan).

To make the classic topping of a Linzertorte, line another tart ring with the dough (don’t worry, there’s enough), and use a pastry wheel to cut out strips.

Arrange them to form a lattice pattern over the jam. Here, I’ve used raspberry jam. To trim the edges, run a rolling pin over the top, pressing down on the edges.

Bake as above. You may need to adapt the baking time to the size.

Be very careful when you remove the tart ring. As I said, the crust is particularly crumbly.