Austrian Linzer Cake (Linzer Torte)

Are you familiar with this Austrian classic?

The Linzer Cake, known as Linzer Torte, is a traditional Austrian recipe. The shortcake topped with fruits and a lettice design is super popular among young and old all over Austria as well as in many parts of Germany. And there's a good reason why... so let's get started!

Taste and Occasion

The scent of cinnamon and nutmeg, lots of butter and caramel sugar: When a Linzer Torte is in the oven, autumn-winter Christmas feelings quickly arise.

The traditional Austrian pastry from Linz may require a little effort. But the result is a good Linzer Torte, a delight that you can rave about for a really long time!

Ingredients

There are many different recipes for Linzer Torte. Typical is the cake's appearance with a filling of red jam and lattice-like strips of dough. However, it is a matter of taste which ingredients the kneading dough is made of for the base, rim and dough grid.

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Some Linzertorte recipes are based on a stirred short pastry mass for which you need soft butter, others on regular short pastry or kneading dough with cold butter. Some use a kind of macaroon mass to sprinkle the dough grid on the jam layer; others use the same dough as for the cake base.

I think the last alternative is the best thing. From my baking recipe, you can either bake a round Linzer Torte in a springform pan or Linzer slices from the baking sheet - depending on your mood and occasion.

How to make the Linzer Cake

Even if the Linzerschnitten recipe may be a bit difficult to read - it's really not complicated! The most important thing is a good kneading dough, which is used in four different places: bottom, edge, grid and possibly as a cover for the ends of the grid strips.

By the way, I recently bought a dough wheel, especially for Linzertorte and Linzer Schnitten, which makes the lattice very easy and beautiful. However, you have to press (at least with my wheel) quite hard to get the wave form.

But let's get started!

First, put flour, baking powder, nuts, sugar and spices into a mixing bowl. Add cold butter in flakes or small pieces. Stir the mixture briefly together with egg yolks, then knead everything to a homogenous dough. Form a ball from the dough, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate it for about 1.5 hours.

For the next step, preheat the oven to 360°F / 180°C and line a springform pan or a high baking sheet with baking paper or grease it and dust it with some flour. Put the baking tin in the refrigerator.

Knead the dough with your hands again briefly until it is a little bit smoother. Roll out a good third of the dough on a floured work surface to a baking tin-sized base. The rest of the dough is for the rim and the grid.

Place the rolled out dough in the baking tin. Form about half of the remaining dough into a long roll, place it on the dough base and pull it up to a rim with your fingers. The rim should be about 0.6 inches / 1.5 cm high.

Stir the jam with a fork until smooth and spread it on the dough base. Roll out the remaining dough and cut it into long strips with a wavy dough wheel (alternatively use a sharp knife). Place it on the cake in a grid pattern.

If you have some dough left, you can form it into a very thin roll and place it on the cake as an obscuring edge to cover the cut ends of the grid. Press a pattern into the edge with a fork back. Whisk the egg yolk and mix with the milk.

Brush the rim and dough strips with it. Make sure that as little as possible of the egg mixture drips onto the jam. Bake the Linzertorte for about 30 minutes. Leave to cool and before you cut the cake, it is best to wrap it in aluminum foil and let it stand for one or two days.

Top Tip

By the way: Linzer Torte is excellent to prepare and is an ingenious cake to pick up and freeze. Well wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a cool place, the Linzer Torte lasts around 2 weeks.

Actually, it tastes even a little better with every day it is allowed to go through… Nevertheless, it never lasts long with us. Waaaay too good!

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Traditional Austrian Linzer Cake

A delicious classic cake from Austria that tastes especially good in autumn and winter. The recipe is enough for a Linzertorte or Linzerschnitte.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Baking Time30 minutes mins

Waiting Time1 hour hr

Servings: 1 cake

Calories: 492kcal

Ingredients

1x2x3x

For the dough

• 250 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 200 grams (1.8 cups) ground hazelnuts, alternatively almonds
• 150 grams (0.7 cups) brown sugar, or whole cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 275 grams (1.2 cups) butter , cold in small pieces
• 2 egg yolks, medium-sized

For the topping

• 350 grams (1 cups) jam, preferably half raspberry, half currant
• 1 egg yolk, medium-sized
• 1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

• Put flour, baking powder, nuts, sugar and spices into a mixing bowl. Add the cold butter in flakes or small pieces. Stir briefly together with the egg yolks, then knead to a homogenous dough. If you use dough hooks, you should still use your hands at the end of the kneading process.
• Form a ball from the dough, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 1.5 hours.
• Preheat oven to 360°F / 180°C. Either line the springform pan or a baking sheet with a baking frame with baking paper or grease it and dust it with some flour. Put the baking tin in the refrigerator.
• Knead the dough with your hands again briefly until it is a little bit smoother. Roll out a good third of the dough on a floured work surface to a baking tin-sized base. The rest of the dough is for the rim and the grid.
• Place the rolled out dough in the baking tin. Form about half of the remaining dough into a long roll, place it on the dough base and pull it up to a rim with your fingers. The rim should be about 0.6 inches / 1.5 cm high.
• Stir the jam with a fork until smooth and spread it on the dough base. Roll out the remaining dough and cut it into long strips with a wavy dough wheel (alternatively use a sharp knife). Place it on the cake in a grid pattern. If you have some dough left, you can form it into a very thin roll and place it on the cake as an obscuring edge to cover the cut ends of the grid. Press a pattern into the edge with a fork back.
• Whisk the egg yolk and mix with the milk. Brush the rim and dough strips with it. Make sure that as little as possible of the egg mixture drips onto the jam. Bake the Linzertorte for about 30 minutes. Leave to cool and before you cut the cake, it is best to wrap it in aluminum foil and let it stand for one or two days.

Ingredient substitutions

Do you want to replace some ingredients? Here you find tips for baking ingredient substitutions!

Variations

As already mentioned, the basis of the recipe is the Linzer Pastry, a nut short pastry or almond short pastry. For me, as a confessing cinnamon lover, the pre-Christmas spices in the dough of the Linzer Torte are essential.

But without cinnamon and co. the cake tastes good all year round. The original recipe for Linzer Torte uses currant jam, i.e., currant jelly or redcurrant marmalade. I like a combination with raspberry jam even better, both visually and taste-wise.

Similar Recipes

If you like the ingredients and the fruity texture of the Linzer Torte, you might also enjoy my classic recipe for Apple Pie from my grandmother.