Linzer Torte : Free And Easy Bake-Along #35

Our Bake-Along #35!  My turn to select a theme, and I have chosen to bake any Linzer Tart/Torte as our baking theme. Linzer Tart, sometimes called as Linzer Torte, is believed to be originated from Austria, from the city of Linz. Torte is a German word for cake. It is a round tart with a pastry base and is topped with raspberry jam and the top is attractively crisscrossed with strips of the pastry dough. An interesting fact I discovered about Linzer Torte is, it is known to be the oldest kind of cake in the world, dated back to 1696!

As you can see from my photo above, I have over baked the tart a little, the crust is a little too brown for my liking. This tart has however, helped me in my "project" to clear my pantry, a bottle of raspberry jam that I have no idea how it came to me, but has been sitting in my pantry for months!

The recipe uses unblanched almonds which are processed with the confectioners' sugar till fine, but I use ready bought ground almond instead, so I skipped this step. The dough is really very soft and difficult to work with. I need to refrigerate the dough in the freezer for a short while and work quickly when handling the dough. It came out fine in the end! 

As you can see, the jam is not suitable for baking. It is runny while still hot and did not improve much when the tart has cooled down. I refrigerated the tart to set the jam. It was fine when out of the fridge, but the jam starts to turn runny later on when left outside. So I left the tart in the fridge until serving time. And this jam is a litttle too sweet for my liking. Overall, this Linzer Tart is not too bad, albeit the sweet jam. I guess that good quality jam certainly makes a big difference, and next time I'll use preserves instead! But anyway, at least the bottle of "mysterious jam" has been cleared off my pantry! This goes to my self-project in clearing my pantry Clearing my pantry #2 : Raspberry Jam!

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Linzertorte
(adapted from "The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book")
Makes one 9-inch (23cm) tart, or 8-10 serving
1-1/2 cups (200gm) all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1 lemon
1 cup (155gm) unblanched whole almonds
1 cup (100gm) confectioners' (icing) sugar
3/4 cup (170gm) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks
1-1/2 cups (500gm) raspberry jam
1 tbsp whole milk

In a bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves and salt into a bowl. Using the finest rasps on a handheld grater, grate the zest from the lemon into the bowl. Set aside. In a food processor, process the almonds with the confectioners' sugar until finely ground. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer, beat the butter with the paddle on medium speed until creamy. Beat in the almond mixture, then 2 of the egg yolks. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture, and beat just until combined. Flatten about a third of the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate. Grease a 9-inch (23cm) round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Using your fingers, press the remaining dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, extending it about 1/2 inch (12mm) above the rim. If the dough is overly soft and sticky, refrigerate it until firm enough to continue. Spread the dough with the jam.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into a rectangle about 9 inches (23cm) long and 1/4 inch (6mm) thick. Using a fluted pastry cutter, cut into 6 strips, each 1 inch (2.5cm) wide, 2 of them should be 9 inches (23cm) long and the others shorter. Lay the strips on the torte, trimming the edges. Fold the dough extending above the pan back over the filling and strips. Crimp to seal the edges. Place the torte in the freezer for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining egg yolk and the milk. Brush the dough with the yolk mixture. Bake until the crust is browned and the jam is bubbling, 45-55 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack until the torte is barely warm. Let the pan sides fall away. Run a thin-bladed knife between the torte and the pan bottom. Transfer the torte to a serving plate and let cool completely. Just before serving, using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the torte with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

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