Christmas is fast approaching and cookies are a must in any baker’s repertoire. This year I decided to bake something very traditional which made the whole house smell of holidays…Linzer Cookies! I’ve used the same recipe of the well known Linzer Torte and I’ve paired the cookies with a thin layer of seedless raspberry jam.
The Linzer torte is a winter classic in Germany, Austria, Hungaria, Switzerland and is often eaten at Christmas. Believe it or not, it is said to be one of the oldest cake in the world. Originally from the town of Linz in Austria, its recipe was created in the early 1700s and consists of a shortcrust flavoured with a mix of warm spices and a zesty touch of lemon juice. The crust is usually made of flour and ground nuts (traditionally almonds but sometimes also hazelnuts or walnuts), filled with black currant, raspberry or apricot jam and topped with a lattice design. The Linzer crust is pretty sugary, so try to use preserves with some tartness to counterbalance its sweetness. This particular recipe also calls for hard-boiled egg yolks to give extra tenderness to the crust.
According to tradition, the Linzer torte should be made in advance and left at least 2-3 days to rest at room temperature before eating. This is to allow all the flavours to blend thoroughly, but I challenge you to make it last that long…
Linzer cookies
Ingredients
- 150gr unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150 gr caster sugar
- 150 gr cake flour
- 100 gr ground almonds
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 hard-boiled egg yolks
- 1 raw egg yolk
- seedless raspberry jam to taste
- icing sugar to decorate (optional)
Directions
- Step 1 In a big bowl put the butter, flour, ground almond, sugar, salt, spices, lemon zest and lemon juice
- Step 2 Sieve the hard yolk through a fine mesh, then add also the fresh yolk
- Step 3 Using the tips of your fingers, rub all the ingredients together, until you get a sticky but uniform dough: work the dough as quickly as possible, just to blend all the ingredients
- Step 4 Make a ball, flatten and wrap in cling film. Put in the refrigerator to rest for at least 1 hour and up to 48 hours
- Step 5 Take the dough out of the fridge, knead a few seconds to make it workable again and roll out onto a lightly floured surface
- Step 6 Cut out the cookies using the cutter of your choice and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper
- Step 7 Preheat the oven at 180ºC and bake for about 10-12 minutes. They have to be cooked but not golden
- Step 8 Leave the cookies to rest until completely cool, then spread a thin coat of jam on half of them and sandwich with the remaining halves
- Step 9 Dust with icing sugar to decorate
*Tips and notes*
- Recipe from this book
- If you want to make a proper tart with this recipe, use a 25cm fluted tart pan with removable bottom and use 220 gr of the jam of your choice
