Linzer Cake
- Classics
- Sweet
- dessert
This shortcake pastry with redcurrant jam is named after the city of Linz and is the oldest-known cake in the world.
Method
- Preparation time: 60 min
- 8 Portions
Preparation
Create a pile of flour on the work surface, slice the butter into cubes, and rub between the fingers into the flour to create a light crumb. Flavour with the cinnamon, a pinch of ground cloves and a little salt, together with the lemon rind or lemon juice and ground nuts. Work quickly to form a smooth short pastry, shape it into a ball, cover it with cling film, and leave it to rest in a cool place for approx. 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 356°F. Grease a suitably sized spring form cake tin and then dust with the bread crumbs to prevent the dough from sticking. Now press a little over half of the dough onto the base of the tin using your knuckles. Shape the remaining dough into several small rolls (for the lattice) and one thicker roll (for the edge). If you like, cover the pastry base with wafers, and then coat with smoothly stirred jam, leaving about 1 cm / 0.4 inch all around for the edge. Place the thicker roll into the tin as an edging, and press down gently. Use the thinner rolls to create a lattice. Sprinkle with flaked almonds to taste.
Coat the dough with the beaten egg and bake in the preheated oven for 50 – 60 minutes. Take out the tart, leave to cool, and ideally leave to stand for a day, wrapped in cling film. Dust with icing sugar.
Ingredients
Anyone who seriously searches for the true origin of the Linzer Torte will soon find themselves mentally journeying between Egypt, Verona, and Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin. The oldest documented cake recipe in the world was written down by a countess in Verona, is now held in the Admont Abbey Library, and even became popular in America in the mid-19th century. However, without the pastry chef Johann Konrad Vogel, who moved to Linz in 1822 and mass-produced a cake from the so-called 'Linzer mixture'—which, incidentally, was already known in a similar form to the ancient Egyptians—the sweet legend would not be what it is today: The culinary emblem of the capital of Upper Austria.