Linzer Torte Recipe – A Traditional Austrian Cake in Trieste

---

When you live abroad, you inevitably face periods where the nostalgia for your home country is unbearable. Beside browsing the photos of my home town stored on my pc, I alleviate my aching sense of homesickness preparing the traditional recipes of Trieste, the city where I’m from. The Linzer Torte is definitely one of those recipes I enjoy preparing, giving me a sense of belonging to Trieste.

This cake, considered to be the oldest cake in the world, is a true Austrian classic that became a traditional cake in Trieste, the most Austro Hungarian city in Italy. In the lavish city’s cafes it’s often served with a big dollop of whipped cream and dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Are you looking for other tart recipes? Here you can find one of our favourite 🙂

---

RECIPE:

Linzer Torte

---

---

 INGREDIENTS

• 250 g (9oz) butter, diced 
• 250 g (9oz) flour 
• 125 g (4oz) icing sugar 
• 150 g (5oz) ground hazelnuts (or almonds) 
• 1 egg 
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• A pinch of ground cloves 
• A pinch of salt 
• Lemon zest, to taste
• 1 jar of Redcurrant jam for coating 
• Flaked (or whole) almonds, to decorate

METHOD

• Place flour, ground hazelnuts, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest and salt on a clean work surface. Add butter and the eggs. Knead quickly to form a smooth dough. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Grease a springform cake tin (about 20cm diameter) and then dust with flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
• Make the base of the Linzer cake with a little over half of the dough. Then spread the jam over it.
• Use the remaining part of the dough to cut out thin strips. Arrange the strips crosswise in a lattice pattern. You can also crumble the remaining part of the dough and sprinkle the cake with it.
• Then sprinkle with flaked (or whole) almonds to taste.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50 – 60 minutes. Take out the cake, leave to cool. Dust with icing sugar.

Tips: You can use other berry jam instead of redcurrant jam.