Linzer Torte – Shortcrust deluxe

When I tell people that I am originally from Linz in Upper Austria, most people say: «Aaah, is this where the Linzer Torte is from?» Yes. That’s it. I haven’t known that the cake was so famous until I moved to Switzerland. Let me tell you more about the popular shortcrust.

Apparently, the Linzer Torte is one of the oldest – if not THE oldest – cake recipe. Its origins are located somewhere between Egypt, Italy (Verona) and even Milwaukee in the US. Nobody really knows where it comes from, but it has been found in a recipe book of a countess in Verona, Italy. After the confectioner Johann Konrad Vogel moved to Linz in the early 1800, he started to produce them on a large scale. And suddenly it became one of the emblems of Upper Austrias capital Linz. Let me show you my recipe.

My recipe of the Linzer Torte (2-3 cakes)

500 g flour
500 g sugar
500 g grounded hazelnuts
500 g butter/margarine
2 eggs
2 table spoons cinnamon
2 table spoons cocoa powder
7 table spoons Kirschwasser (cherry brandy) – can be left out
1 pinch clove powder
marmelade/jam according to your preference, best is raspberry or red currant (red currant is rather sour than sweet)

Beat margarine/butter and sugar until foamy, then add the eggs. Add hazelnuts and spices to the butter mix, then add the flour to finalize your dough. Put it into the fridge or somewhere cool for at least 2 hours.

Use some oil or butter to grease the cake tin and add some flour. Roll the dough until it’s about 8 mm high. The original Linzer Torte is made with stripes on top of the marmelade, now it’s time to take care of the stripes. I prefer making little stars (just use a cookie cutter) and put them aside. Then put the rest of the dough into the tin. Make sure that the surface is bigger than the bottom of the tin, so that it still folds out on the edges. Cover the dough with your chosen marmelade and add the stripes or stars on top of it.

Put the cake into the pre-heated oven at about 175°C for about 35 minutes.

The cake is great to keep for at about 2 weeks 🙂

Enjoy!

 

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