David asked me many times to make linzertorte for him and I finally made it for the first time. It was hard picking the recipe to try for the first time but I picked this one from America's Test Kitchen YouTube channel. The direction was easy to follow and the ingredients sounded good. I used 1 1/2 cups hazelnut flour instead of the whole bake and blanched nuts process and the crumb was delicate and difficult to handle but it looked so elegant and the color was beautiful. I made a few cookies out of torte scraps with 10-12 minutes baking time.
Ingredients
1/2 cup hazelnuts (about 2 1/2 ounces)
1 cup blanched almonds (about 5 ounces)
I used 1 1/2 cups/150 g of hazelnut flour
1 1/2 cups/150g all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 large egg yolk mixed with 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups raspberry jam mixed with 2 tbsp lemon juice
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)
Directions
Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast, stirring occasionally, until skins begin to split, about 15 minutes. Immediately rub hazelnuts vigorously in a clean kitchen towel to remove skins (as much as will come off easily). Let cool.
Step 2 In a food processor, pulse hazelnuts and almonds until finely ground. (Be careful not to overprocess; you don't want the mixture to become a paste.) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, lemon zest, cinnamon, salt, and nut mixture; set aside.
Step 3 In a small bowl, beat an egg yolk with vanilla extract, set aside
Step 4 In a food processor, pulse flour and nut mixture and sugar then while running the machine add egg mixture in a steady stream add enough just when the dough starts to come together.
Step 5 Divide dough in half. Set a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using your fingers, press 1 dough half into tart pan. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, roll remaining dough half between 2 sheets of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour to a 12-inch round; place on a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
Step 6 Blind bake the torte: on top of crust, line a piece of aluminum foil (sprayed with cooking oil) and use pie weight to weight down the crust ( I used raw beans) bake for 30 minutes. Take off aluminum foil and pie weight, let the torte cool completely.
Step 7 Using an offset spatula, spread jam mix evenly over the cooled torte; set aside. Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut 3/4-inch-wide strips from chilled round of dough. Arrange strips on top of jam in a lattice pattern. Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle turbinado sugar on top. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 8 Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until torte is golden brown all over, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Remove ring and cool torte completely. Torte can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, dust with confectioners' sugar, if using.
Comments