A tart with ancient Austrian origins that exudes the scent of Christmas, where the pastry ingredients—flour, sugar, butter, and eggs—meet with toasted hazelnuts, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon zest. The generous filling of cranberry jam and the elegant, crunchy hazelnut flakes complete this sweet symphony of flavors. A tart created specifically for the Christmas holidays, a recipe that over the centuries has spread beyond Austria and Europe, conquering everyone.
The secret to its success lies in the simplicity of its crumbly pastry crust made with nut flour, but also in its balanced, spicy flavor that distinguishes it and makes it truly unique.
For a 26 cm springform pan
- 100g almonds
- 100g hazelnuts
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 cloves
- 130g sugar
- 280g 00 flour
- 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 200g Trentino butter
- 1 lemon with edible zest
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 large egg
- Almond flakes
- 450g cranberry/currant/berry jam (Our recommendation? Try the local ones made in Primiero!)
DIRECTIONS:
- In a blender, blend the hazelnuts and almonds until they form a fine flour and set aside.
- Then blend the sugar with the cloves and cinnamon.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, butter, and salt, then add the grated lemon zest and vanilla extract.
- Mix the butter with the other ingredients until a sandy mixture forms. Add the nut flour, sugar, and flavorings, and mix well.
- Then incorporate the egg. The mixture will be soft. Shape it into a ball, cover it with parchment paper, then plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours; longer is better.
- Butter and flour the cake pan. Cut out a 26 cm circle of parchment paper to fit the base.
- After the resting time, flour the surface and rolling pin well. Take a portion of the pastry and roll it out to a 26 cm round base, then slide the parchment paper disc underneath.
- This way, even though the dough is soft, you'll be able to easily place it on the cake pan. Spread the jam over the base, leaving about 2 cm from the edge. Roll out the remaining dough on another sheet of parchment paper and cut out strips about 1 cm thick, which you will use to form the tart's typical lattice (you can use a small spatula to lift the strips and place them on top of the tart). Use the remaining pastry to cut 2 cm thick strips to form the tart's edges.
- Let the Linzer rest in the refrigerator for about half an hour. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) for about 40-45 minutes, until lightly golden. Meanwhile, toast the almond flakes in a pan over a low heat, stirring constantly and being careful not to burn them.
- Remove the Linzer from the oven and let it cool. Brush the edges with jam and cover with the almond flakes.
RECIPE BY: Silvia Coletto is a food blogger, food photographer, and passionate expert on typical products and traditional recipes from Trentino-Alto Adige, and Primiero in particular. On her blog www.dolcimariemonti.it, special attention is paid to selecting local ingredients. You'll find traditional Dolomite cuisine as well as some new and easy-to-follow modern interpretations.
You can also follow Silvia and her Cucina delle Dolomiti stories on her social media channels, Instagram and Facebook.
