Linzer Torte is a traditional Austrian cake consisting of buttery nut & flour crust and a fruit preserve, most usually raspberry or apricot. Its name is derived from a place of its’ origin, a picturesque Austrian city – Linz. A typical design of the cake is made with a criss-cross or so-called lattice pattern on top. Don’t mistake a Linzer Torte with Linzer cookies which are small sandwiched cookies glued together with preserve and traditionally baked over Christmas

The Linzer Torte will please all lovers of simple, not-too-sweet pastries and those who prefer earthy cakes without the cream. The crust or dough can vary in color depending on nuts used – there are recipes using hazelnuts or walnuts in the crust but most common are almonds (the whole of blanched). Because the recipe only uses a handful of ingredients, the quality is crucial. Make sure to use a good-quality (or best homemade) and really thick preserve for the filling. Too high water content in cheaper preserves could cause the preserve to bubble and boil in the oven as the cake bakes and that might result in tearing-up the crust and damaging the lattice pattern on the top

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I prefer making Linzer Torte using apricot preserve but you can as well go for raspberry, mixed berries or even red/ black currants. I adapted an original recipe from here and changed it to my liking and preferred consistency. Instead of a regular AP flour, I prefer using a spelt flour that has a nutty flavor and taste. My nuts of preference for the crust are almonds but you can substitute a part of almond flour with hazelnut flour. Lastly, you can choose to either make your own nut almond flour by carefully grinding almonds in a food processor or you can totally use a finely-ground ready-made almond flour as well

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INGREDIENTS

(for 8inch / 20cm Round Pan)

120g Almond Flour

120g Spelt Flour

80-100g Powdered Sugar

1 Teaspoon Cocoa Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Gingerbread Spice (optional)

Zest from 1 Lemon

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

110g Butter, unsalted & cold

1 large Egg Yolk or 2 smaller

Other

300-350g Apricot Preserve

1 Tablespoon Powdered Sugar

Sliced Almonds to decorate, optional

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METHOD

1. Start with making the dough crust and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes before you proceed with rolling. Combine all dry ingredients together in a bowl (120g Spelt Flour, 120g Almond Flour, 80-100g Powdered Sugar, 1 Teaspoon of Cocoa Powder, a pinch of Salt, Zest from 1 Lemon, 1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon, 1/4 Teaspoon of Baking Powder and a Gingerbread Spice if using)

2. Shred 110g of cold Butter into dry ingredients and keep tossing dries while shredding to coat the butter and prevent it from sticking. Add 1 large or 2 smaller Egg Yolks and start mixing and working out all ingredients until you’ll get a uniform and well-incorporated dough. I always combine the dough with my hands but mixer with a paddle attachment can be used as well. Once the dough is well combined, wrap it into a plastic wrap and place it into the fridge for ~ 30 minutes to chill

3. Take chilled dough out from the fridge, separate a third of the dough and set it on the side (this will be used for strips that cover the torte). Roll out the rest 2/3 of the dough into a circle slightly bigger than the baking pan you’re using. Transfer rolled-out dough into a well-greased pan lined with parchment paper making sure that there’s dough on the sides of the pan as well (tall at least 5mm or 1/3 of the inch ). You can secure the dough using your fingertips. If the dough tears anywhere, use your fingertips to patch the hole. Then spread your Apricot Preserve evenly everywhere on the whole surface of the dough

4. From the rest of the dough roll out the circle of the size of a baking pan. Cut the circle into 1cm or 1/2 of the inch wide strips and place them carefully on top of the filling creating a lattice pattern. You can place Almond Slices around the rim of the cake. Bake the cake at 190°Celsius/ 400° Fahrenheit for 35-40 minutes and then take the cake out from the oven and let it cool down for at least 2 hours (or longer as needed) until the preserve is well set. Don’t cut the cake while still hot because the crust will fall apart, it must cool down in order to sit and cut well. Once cool, dust with some powdered sugar, slice & enjoy

Dobrú chuť,
Lenka