Apricot Linzer Torte

I don’t mind admitting when I’m wrong. And BOY, was I wrong about this.

See, for the past two or three years, basically every time I’ve gotten with my friend Shalya for dinner, the conversation has eventually turned to food (okay, fine, it’s on food 92.5% of the time), and every single time she’s begged me to make a linzer torte.

Every single time.  And I always told her she was a weirdo, because who is obsessed with linzer torte, but fine, yes, I’ll make a linzer torte if she comes to my house.  But that day finally came.  And it was glorious.

See, in my (limited) experience, linzer torte is basically just a simple buttery pastry crust with some jam in it, and a lattice topping.  Something that’s fine adorning a bakery case somewhere, but not something that anyone ever really chooses.  Fine, and sturdy, but not setting the world on fire.  Which just goes to show, I have been eating the WRONG LINZER TORTE all my life.

This linzer torte recipe is anything but “fine”.  The dough basically punches you in the face with a combination of spices so aromatic my house smelled like heaven.  Pair that moist, tender spiced crust up with slightly chunky apricot jam, and you have a simple and perfect match made in heaven.

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8-inch springform pan.

In a large stand mixer, cream the butter with the sugar together.

Add the egg yolks, scraping down the sides to make sure everything is incorporated.  Then zest the lemon and mix it in.  It will smell lovely, but just you wait…things are gonna get good right about now.

Add in the dry ingredients in a few batches, mixing in between.  What makes this amazing is all of those spices that the dough calls for.  The smells are just unbelievable, and are definitely what takes this recipe from “fine” to “balls awesome”.

So now your dough is ready to go.  Mine was quite wet—different from what the original recipe author indicated would be the case, and much more than I expected for this kind of tart.  But it imbued a delightful moisture to the tart that is sometimes lacking in pastry.

Critical step:  pour yourself a glass of wine.

Reserve about one-fifth of the dough for the lattice, and then take the remaining dough and press into the springform pan.  Smooth and shape it with your fingers so that there is about 1/4-inch rim around on the sides (not too high).

Spread the marmalade on top, leaving just a bit of space between the jelly and the rim.  Make sure you don’t put too much on or it will ooze over the lattice and it will not look pretty, but you do want a good thick layer.  I used a little over half a jar of apricot jam.

Okay, here’s where things get a little dicey, because everyone’s will be a little different.

1. Take the dough you reserved and split into two equal pieces.
2. Plan on between 5 and 7 little snakes for each piece (going in each direction), about 1/4-inch thick.  I did 5 one way and 4 the other, and felt it was completely sufficient.
3. There will need to be one longer little “snake” in each direction, for the middle, so reserve a little extra dough for that one.  Then two shorter on each side of that, and so on.  The pics above should help.
4. I made them one at a time and kind of laid them next to the pan to make sure they were about the right size.  My dough was so wet that it kept breaking, but I just kind of smooshed it back together on top of the jam and it was totally fine.  It’s not gorgeous, but it tasted amazing so who cares??
5. I definitely didn’t do a true lattice where you go over and under—just did a bottom layer and a top.  Just use your fingers to try and seal them a bit where they overlap.

Et voila!  Before it goes into the oven, brush it with a beaten egg wash.

Bake for 20 minutes, until nicely browned.  Definitely be careful not to overbake, it will dry out and be sad and inedible.

Let cool and set, preferably for a half hour before serving.

My guests informed me we’d be remiss in not adding some (very excellent Talenti) vanilla ice cream, but honestly I thought it was phenomenal all on its own.

Apricot Linzer Torte

Measuring with a scale is better in this case, but not mandatory

• 140 grams of sugar  (3/4 cups)
• 140 grams of all-purpose flour (1 cup)
• 140 grams of ground almonds or hazelnuts  (1 3/4 cups)
• 140 grams of butter, room temperature (10 tablespoons)
• Zest 1 lemon
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1 tablespoons of cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• Apricot jam/marmalade

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8-inch springform pan.

In a large stand mixer, cream the butter with the sugar, then add the egg yolks, scraping down the sides to make sure everything is incorporated.  Add the lemon zest and mix, then add in the dry ingredients and and mix until it forms a dough—mine was quite wet, much more than I expected for this kind of tart.

Reserve about one-fifth of the dough for the lattice, and then take the remaining dough and press into the springform pan.  Smooth and shape it with your fingers so that there is about 1/4-inch rim around on the sides (not too high).

Spread the marmalade on top, leaving just a bit of space between the jelly and the rim.  Make sure you don’t put too much on or it will ooze over the lattice and it will not look pretty, but you do want a good thick layer.  I used a little over half a jar of apricot jam.

Now take the dough you reserved and split into two equal pieces.  Here’s where things get a little dicey, because it works a little differently for everyone.  The good news is that I ended up having a lot of extra dough, so if something goes wrong you should be covered.

1. Plan on between 5 and 7 little snakes in each direction, about 1/4-inch thick.  I did 5 and felt it was completely sufficient.
2. There will need to be one longer in each direction, for the middle, so reserve a little extra dough for that one.  Then two shorter on each side of that, and so on.  The pics above should help.
3. I made them one at a time and kind of laid them next to the pan to make sure they were about the right size.  My dough was so wet that it kept breaking, but I just kind of smooshed it back together on top of the jam and it was totally fine.
4. I definitely didn’t do a true lattice where you go over and under—just did a bottom layer and a top.  Just use your fingers to try and seal them a bit where they overlap.

Before it goes into the oven, brush it with a beaten egg wash.  Bake for 20 minutes, until nicely browned (definitely don’t overbake, it will dry out).  Let cool and set, preferably for a half hour before serving.

Original recipe here