RECIPE

Linzer Torte

December 27, 2021
[ SKIP TO RECIPE ]
Linzer Torte
Cookies with fillings are usually a big hit in my family at any time of the year. 
Thumbprint cookies was the very first cookie’s I’ve ever made. It was during the winter holidays at my aunt’s when I was around 6 years old. I remember my cousins and I were rolling the cookie dough into balls, and pressing the “thumbprint” with a jelly bean. It was also on the same day my baby sister rolled down the a flight of stairs like a ball. Miraculously, she was not injured in any way but was startled by our mom freaking out.

Jam is a staple food in the pantry. There’s always some sort of marmalade and a red fruit jam. There’s this Croatian sour cherry jam that we started getting that is tart and sweet, which is perfect for sweet shortbread.

During research on Linzer cookies, I learned about a traditional version from Austria, the Linzer torte. Being a semi-lazy person, I opted to do the torte version instead of the individual cookie cutouts. 

Linzer Torte
Cookies with fillings are usually a big hit in my family at any time of the year. 
Thumbprint cookies was the very first cookie’s I’ve ever made. It was during the winter holidays at my aunt’s when I was around 6 years old. I remember my cousins and I were rolling the cookie dough into balls, and pressing the “thumbprint” with a jelly bean. It was also on the same day my baby sister rolled down the a flight of stairs like a ball. Miraculously, she was not injured in any way but was startled by our mom freaking out.

Jam is a staple food in the pantry. There’s always some sort of marmalade and a red fruit jam. There’s this Croatian sour cherry jam that we started getting that is tart and sweet, which is perfect for sweet shortbread.

During research on Linzer cookies, I learned about a traditional version from Austria, the Linzer torte. Being a semi-lazy person, I opted to do the torte version instead of the individual cookie cutouts. 

Linzer Torte

Yield: 1  x 9.5″ round tart
INGREDIENTS
  • 100g of almond flour
  • 62g of brown rice flour
  • 32g of white rice flour
  • 80g of potato starch
  • 18g of tapioca starch
  • 1tsp of xanthan gum
  • 80g of granulated sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 large egg (around 56g, without shell)
  • 126g of unsalted butter*, cold, cut into small cubes
  • 240g of jam (I use Dalmatia’s sour cherry jam)

* Dairy-free butter works interchangeably well

 
INSTRUCTIONS

Shortbread Dough Preparation

  1. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix together almond flour, brown rice flour, white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt.
  2. With a spatula, mix the egg into the dry mixture until the egg is absorbed into the flours.
  3. Bit by bit, cut in the cold butter into the mixture with a dough cutter. You can use your fingers to pinch the cold butter and flour mixture until all the ingredients can hold together to form a ball.
  4. If you find the dough a bit too dry, you can add more cold butter (1 teaspoon at a time) or add cold water (1 tablespoon at a time) until the dough forms into a ball.
  5. Flatten the dough into a squarish shape and wrap with plastic wrap. 
  6. Rest and chill the dough in the refridgerator for at least 1 hour.

Roll Out the Base

  1. Once the dough is chilled, leave it out at room temperature for about 10 minutes to soften a bit. This will let us roll our the dough easily.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
  3. While the the dough is softening, grease the tart pan with butter. Set aside
  4. When the dough is soft enough, remove the plastic wrap. Divide the dough into a 2/3 and a 1/3. 
  5. Sandwich 2/3 of the dough between two pieces of parchment paper on a flat, clean surface. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch in thickness and larger than the tart pan.
  6. Loosen the top parchment paper but gently peeling it away from the rolled dough. Place it back on to the dough. Gently flip over the dough, and then gentle remove the other side of the parchment from the dough. 
  7. Flip the tart pan rim side down and use it as a giant cookie cutter to press and cut the dough to make the base of the torte.
  8. Gently place the dough cutout into the tart pan. If the pan is tapered, gently press the dough along the inside edge of the pan so that the edges are all flushed to the pan, creating a slight rim up the sides.
  9. With a fork, poke holes all over the dough.
  10. Bake the torte base in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
  11. While the the torte base is baking, roll out the remainder of 1/3 of the dough into 1/8-inch in thickness. Cut it into 8 to 10mm strips. 
  12. After 20 minutes, remove the torte base from the oven. Spread the jam with a spoon or an off-set knife on the baked torte base.
  13. Carefully and gently place the rolled out dough strips on top of the jam. Make sure they are about 5mm apart from each other. Feel free to make any other design you like, as long as you are not covering the torte entirely with the top layer.
  14. Return the torte into the oven to bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until it reach the desired golden brown.
  15. Let the torte cool in the pan completely before cutting it.
If there’s extra dough, you can make small cookies in any shape of your liking. Bake them for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
[ JUMP BACK TO THE TOP]