Cakes

Linzer Torte

This is less a cake than a large nut tart, first written down in Linz in the seventeenth century. Half the dough is ground nuts, which makes it crumbly and sticky at the same time: it can only be rolled well chilled, between two sheets of baking paper. Do not lift the lattice strips off the paper — cut them on it and carry the paper to the tart.

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Linzer Torte — the finished dish
Prep
30 min
Cook
35 min
Rest
1 h
Total
2 h 5 min
Servings
8
Level
Medium
Per serving
430 kcal

Ingredients

For the pastry

  • What to use instead

    Almonds or walnuts work instead. Walnuts are sharper, so cut the cinnamon by a third.

To fill and finish

Makes: One 20 cm tart, 8 slices

Method

Oven

175 °C · top and bottom heat, no fan

With a fan: 155 °C

  1. Step 1: Make the pastry

    Cream the soft butter with the sugar, beat in the egg, then the cinnamon, cloves and rum. Add the ground hazelnuts, flour and baking powder and bring it together quickly — stop the moment it forms a mass.

  2. Step 2: Chill it

    Set aside a third of the dough for the lattice, flatten both pieces into discs, wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Warm, this dough simply cannot be rolled.

  3. Step 3: Line the tin

    Heat the oven to 175 °C. Roll the larger piece between two sheets of baking paper to a 24 cm round and lift it into a 20 cm tin, pressing up a 2 cm rim. Prick the base in several places.

  4. Step 4: Add the jam

    Stir the jam loose and spread it over the base, stopping 1 cm short of the rim. Keep the layer thin: a thick one boils and floods the lattice.

  5. Step 5: Lay the lattice

    Roll the smaller piece on paper to 5 mm and cut strips 1.5 cm wide. Move them across with your fingers — if one breaks, press it back together in place, nobody sees it after baking. Lay the lattice and seal the ends into the rim.

  6. Step 6: Bake

    Brush the pastry with beaten yolk and bake for 30–35 minutes, until the lattice is a deep nutty brown and the jam just bubbles in the gaps.

  7. Step 7: Let it settle

    Cool completely in the tin — warm, it falls apart. Before serving dust the rim lightly with icing sugar and leave the jam bare.

Tips & variations

  • Tip

    Weigh the hazelnuts after grinding: whole nuts gain volume when ground and the pastry comes out dry.

  • Swap

    Almonds or walnuts work instead. Walnuts are sharper, so cut the cinnamon by a third.

  • Tip

    The jam has to be tart. Sweet apricot or strawberry disappears behind the nuts and spice.

  • Storage

    This cake is built to keep: a week in a tight tin, and the spices read best on day three.

Nutrition

Approximate nutrition per serving and for the whole dish
1 serving Whole dish 8 servings
Energy430 kcal3,440 kcal
Protein7 g56 g
Fat26 g208 g
Carbohydrates42 g336 g

Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.

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