Linzer Tart Recipe

This is a classic German recipe for a chocolate and nut sponge cake where the top of the cake is filed with raspberry jam and covered with a pastry lattice before being baked in the oven. Traditionally the cake is matured for 2 days then the holes in the pastry lattice are filled with more raspberry jam before serving.

Linzer Tart

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

200g (1 3/4 cups) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
200g (1 cup) unsalted butter, diced
150g (5 1/3 oz) ground almonds
60g (2 oz) ground hazelnuts
140g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 egg yolks
300g (2/3 lb) raspberry jam
icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Stir in the ground nuts, caster sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon. Add the egg yolks and mix to bring the ingredients together as a dough. Wrap in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Cut about 2/3 of the dough then roll out so that it's large enough to line the base of a greased 22cm (9 in) diameter springform cake tin. Press the dough up the sides of the tin to from a 12mm (1/2 in) 'wall'. Fill the well thus formed with a thick layer of raspberry jam then roll out the remainder of the dough, cut into strips and use to form an open lattice that covers the top of the jam.

Transfer the cake to an oven pre-heated to 180ºC (350ºF, Gas Mark 4) and bake for about 60 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. When done, remove from the oven but set aside to cool in the tin. Carefully remove the sides of the cake tin then transfer to an air-tight storage tin and set aside to mature for 2 days. After this time fill the holes in the lattice with fresh jam, dust with icing sugar and serve.