Linz cake: a step by step recipe with photos

The Linz cake (original Linzer Torte) is an Austrian cake with a lattice pattern. It received such a name in honor of the city of Linz in Austria.

A feature of this dessert is a crumbly dough consisting of flour, unsalted butter, egg yolks, lemon zest, cinnamon, lemon juice and nuts (usually forest, but sometimes it is even cooked using walnuts or almonds). This cake is covered with a filling of red currants, plum puree, fresh raspberries or apricot jam. The cake is covered with a grid of dough on top. To do this, it is rolled out, cut into thin strips and laid crosswise over the filling. Baking is covered with slightly beaten egg whites, baked and sometimes decorated with chopped almonds.

Linz cake is a classic festive dish in Austrian, Hungarian, Swiss, German and Tyrolean traditions. This dessert is usually eaten at Christmas. In addition, it is often made in the form of small cakes or cookies.

History

Experts say that “Linzer” is the oldest cake in the world. For a long time, the oldest recipe of 1696 was considered to be stored in the Vienna Archive. In 2005, however, an even older recipe of 1653 was found.

In addition, the invention of the Linz cake is the subject of numerous legends telling about a Viennese pastry chef named Linzer (according to Alfred Polgar) or chef Johann Konrad Vogel (1796-1883), who began mass production of the cake in Linz around 1823, making it famous all over the world. In any case, the Linz cake from Austria has been around for several centuries.

Is it possible to cook this treat yourself?

If desired, you can easily prepare such a dessert at home. The classic Linz cake, the recipe of which is considered one of the oldest, is prepared as follows. You will need the following components:

• 250 g butter.
• 250 g of flour.
• 150 g ground hazelnuts (or almonds).
• 125 g of sugar.
• 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs.
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk.
• A generous amount of cinnamon powder.
• A pinch of cloves ground.
• A pinch of salt.
• Grated lemon peel or lemon juice.
• Wafers for layering (optional).
• Egg for coating.
• Red currants for the filling.
• Sliced ​​almonds (optional).

Linz cake: a step by step recipe with photos

Pour a little flour onto the work surface, cut the butter into cubes and rub it with your fingers into the flour to create a light crumb. Mix with cinnamon, a pinch of ground cloves and a little salt, put lemon zest or lemon juice. Stir quickly to form a smooth, dense dough, give it a ball shape, cover with cling film and set aside in a cool place for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 ° C in advance and oil a suitable spring shape.

Now lightly press a little more than half of the dough to the base of the mold using your knuckles. Fill the remaining dough into several small strips (for the lattice) and one wider layer (for the edge). If desired, cover the base with wafers and brush with cake glaze, leaving 1 cm around the edge. Place the prepared layer of dough in the form at the edges (as a border) and lightly press.

Lay the red currant so that it is not above the edges of the workpiece. Lay the prepared strips of dough on top, creating a wire rack. If desired, you can sprinkle the product with chopped almonds. Cover the cake with a beaten egg and bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. Take out the product, leave it to cool, ideally put it to “ripen” at room temperature for a day, wrapping it in a cloth.

Raspberry variant

As mentioned earlier, the Linz cake, a recipe with a photo of which can be found in this article, has several varieties. If the variant with red currants and hazelnuts is considered classic, then the variations include another berry as a filling, and a combination of different nuts in the dough. So what do you need for a raspberry linz cake?

You will need these ingredients:

• 3 cups raspberry filling (fresh berries mashed in mashed potatoes);
• 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour;
• 1 ¾ cup mixture of ground almonds and hazelnuts;
• 1 pack of unsalted butter;
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon;
• 1 cup of sugar;
• ½ teaspoon of tea salt;
• ¾ teaspoon tea powder for baking;
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract;
• 1 ½ teaspoon of citrus zest (lemon, orange or a mixture thereof);
• 2 eggs;
• ½ cup apricot jam;
• 3 tablespoons of table water.

How to make such a dessert?

Pound butter, sugar and citrus zest, mix with eggs and vanilla extract until smooth. Combine nuts, flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add the dry mixture to the oil in stages, mix until smooth. Chill the resulting dough for an hour.

Then roll it to a thickness of about one and a half centimeters and put it in a baking dish, separating a small part for decoration. Spread raspberry puree on top with a layer about one centimeter thick. Roll the left piece of dough thinner, cut into thin strips and lay on top of the berry with a wire rack. Bake at 200 degrees until the top of the pie takes on a rosy appearance. Once you get the cake out of the oven, prepare the top cover. To do this, warm the apricot jam and mix it with a little water. Cover them with a hot cake. The finished product can be decorated as desired with whipped cream and fruit.

Custom Cranberry

This version of Linz cake also suggests using a combination of hazelnuts and almonds. Despite the fact that this dessert is usually filled with raspberry or apricot jam, you can deviate from the classic wishes and use fresh cranberries. This berry will make it a wonderful treat in the autumn and winter holidays. The secret of the test made with the addition of nuts is that it remains plastic when chilled. The Linz cake, the recipe of which is presented below, can be stored for up to a week if it is well packed. In addition, this product also perfectly freezes before or after baking.

How to cook it?

To make a Linz cake with cranberries, you will need the following ingredients.

Ingredients for the filling:

• 340 grams of cranberries;
• 450 grams of sugar;
• juice of 1 orange, diluted with water - 220 ml;
• zest of 1 orange;
• a pinch of salt.

Ingredients for the dough:

• 120 grams whole hazelnuts;
• 120 grams whole almonds;
• 270 grams of universal flour, plus a small amount for working with the dough;
• 160 grams of sugar;
• 14 tablespoons / 198 grams of unsalted butter;
• zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange;
• 1 large egg plus 1 yolk;
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract;
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves;
• 1 ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon;
• ¼ tablespoons of tea salt;
• ½ teaspoon tea powder for baking;
• icing sugar (optional)

Cranberry Linz Cake: A Step-By-Step Recipe

Combine all the ingredients for the filling in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Lower the temperature and stir until the cranberries begin to burst. Continue cooking, lightly whisking the mixture with a spoon until it reaches the consistency of jam. It takes about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place hazelnuts and almonds on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until they turn brown. Peel the nuts while they are warm. Cool them, then chop them in a food processor, adding 3 tablespoons of table flour.

In a deep bowl, combine butter, sugar, citrus zest. Beat with a mixer until sugar is completely dissolved. The mixture should be homogeneous. Beat the egg, egg yolk and vanilla separately, add to the previously prepared mass and mix.

In a separate bowl, mix the ground nuts, the rest of the flour, cloves, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add to the oil mixture in three steps, stirring each time until a slightly sticky dough forms.

Divide the dough into two unequal parts. Form a larger piece into a ball, wrap and flatten to a thickness of 2.5 cm. Wrap with a cloth and cool for 3-4 hours.

Shaping and baking

Then preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and leave for 10 minutes. On parchment paper, form most of the dough into a circle, sprinkling flour on top if necessary. Put it evenly in a baking dish, covering the bottom and walls.

Roll a smaller piece of dough into a rectangle measuring approximately 25 by 30 centimeters and 0.5 cm thick. Cut into strips of small width. Put in the refrigerator for a while.

Spread the cranberry filling evenly over the laid out dough. Lay prepared strips on top of the grill pattern. Twist the remaining pieces of dough into a rope 1 cm in diameter and use it to decorate the outer edge of the cake. Bake for 30-5 minutes until the filling begins to bubble. Let cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar if you wish.