Linzertorte (Austrian almond and raspberry jam tart)

Baking is famous for being a therapeutic activity. I find that there is nothing better than focusing on measuring and mixing ingredients, and stuffing myself with a delicious homemade cake while bingeing on a good TV series, to forget all my worries. 

My friend Chrissy and I are also big fans of baking as a social acitivity. We often meet up and cover ourselves head to toe with flour while indulging in our second favourite social activity: gossiping. 
As Chrissy gets to choose what we bake when we meet, and as my favourite crazy girl is half Austrian, we had a go at baking Linzertorte together.

Linzertorte

Almond and raspberry jam tart

Thanks to its high almond content, the pastry of this torte lends somewhere between and soft biscuit and pastry. It is absolutely divine and makes it well worth fiddling a little with the pastry (which is quite fragile). Don't be mistaken, this is not just your average jam tart. This torte is stunning.

Ingredients (serves 6 to 8)

150g caster sugar
150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

150g ground almonds

good pinch ground cinnamon

150g cold butter, cut into cubes

1 egg, beaten

300g good quality raspberry jam

Method:

1/ Put the sugar, flour, almonds and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined.

2/ Add the cubes of butter and rub them into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. It should feel quite moist.

3/ Add the egg and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together, then knead lightly into a ball. Weigh the dough and take a quarter away to use for the lattice topping. 

4/ Roll the rest into a ball and turn it out on to a well-floured surface.

5/ Flatten the ball with your hands, or a floured rolling pin, until it is about 2.5 cm thick. 

6/ Place the dough in the centre of a 24cm in loose-based (I made small tarts with mini tart moulds), fluted tart tin and press it with your fingers over the base until it is about halfway up the sides of the tin and the tin is evenly covered.

7/ Spread the jam over the dough as evenly as possible.

8/ Shape the reserved dough into a fat sausage and roll it out on a well-floured surface to make a rectangle 3mm thick – about the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut the dough into strips. 

9/ Place the strips over the jam, first in one direction and then the other, to create a criss-cross pattern over the filling. Press the edges to seal, pinch off the excess pastry and smooth the joins down with your fingertips. Chill the tart in the fridge for 30–60 minutes.

9/ Preheat the oven to 190°C. Put the tart on a baking tray and bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes or until the almond pastry is pale golden brown. 

10/ Cool in the tin for 5–10 minutes, then slide it on to a serving platter or board.

 

Recipe from The Hair Bikers