Cranberry Linzer Torte

Cranberry Linzer Torte
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Total Time
2 hours, plus time for chilling
Rating
5(226)
Comments
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This version of Linzer torte, a classic Viennese pastry, has a dough with a high proportion of ground hazelnuts and almonds. It is usually filled with a raspberry or apricot jam, but cranberries make it a perfect Thanksgiving dessert. The secret to rolling a dough made with nuts is to keep chilling it if it becomes difficult to handle. Linzer torte keeps up to a week if well-wrapped, and also freezes well, before or after baking.

Featured in: A Linzer Torte Fit for Thanksgiving

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Ingredients

Yield:10 to 12 servings

    For the Filling

    • 12ounces/340 grams cranberries
    • 2cups/450 grams sugar
    • Zest of 1 orange
    • Juice of 1 orange, plus water to equal ¾ cup/220 milliliters
    • Pinch of salt

    For the Dough

    • ¾cup/120 grams whole hazelnuts
    • ¾cup/120 grams whole almonds
    • cups/270 grams unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
    • 14tablespoons/198 grams unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
    • ¾cup/160 grams sugar
    • Zest of 1 lemon
    • Zest of 1 orange
    • 1large egg, plus 1 egg yolk
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
    • teaspoon ground cloves
    • teaspoons ground cinnamon
    • ½teaspoon baking powder
    • ¼teaspoon salt
    • Powdered sugar, optional
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

569 calories; 25 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 83 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 59 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 87 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Make the Filling

    1. Step 1

      Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Lower heat to a brisk simmer and stir frequently, until cranberries burst. Continue cooking, mashing fruit a bit with the back of a spoon, until thick as jam, about 30 minutes. Set aside. (Filling may be prepared in advance.)

    2. Step 2

      Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place hazelnuts and almonds on a baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes, until well browned. Rub skins off hazelnuts while still warm, discarding skins. Cool nuts, then grind finely in a food processor, adding 3 tablespoons of flour to keep them from becoming oily. (Nuts should have the texture of coarse cornmeal.) Set aside.

  2. Make the Dough

    1. Step 3

      In the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment, combine butter, sugar, and lemon and orange zest. Beat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla.

    2. Step 4

      In a separate bowl, mix together ground nuts, the rest of the flour, cloves, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture in three parts, mixing each time until it forms a slightly sticky dough.

    3. Step 5

      Divide dough into two pieces, one slightly bigger. Form larger piece into a ball, wrap and flatten to a 1-inch thickness. Form smaller piece into a rough rectangle, wrap and flatten to a 1-inch thickness about 4 by 5 inches. Chill 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.

    4. Step 6

      Heat oven to 350. Butter and flour an 11-inch fluted French tart pan. Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand for 10 minutes. On floured parchment paper, roll the larger piece of dough into a 12-inch circle, dusting the top with flour as necessary. If dough is difficult to handle, chill again. Pat evenly into pan until sides and bottom are completely lined with dough about ⅛-inch thick. Refrigerate or freeze tart shell until firm.

    5. Step 7

      Roll out smaller piece of dough on floured parchment paper to rectangle about 10 by 12 inches and ⅛-inch thick. Cut into strips about ¾ inch by 12 inches. Transfer parchment to a tray and refrigerate or freeze until firm.

  3. Make the Torte

    1. Step 8

      Spread cranberry jam evenly into shell. Lay strips across top in a lattice pattern. Form remaining dough scraps into a rope ½ inch in diameter and use it to encircle outer edge of tart. Score diagonally with the handle of a spoon or flute with fingers to make a border.

    2. Step 9

      Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until jam is bubbling and pastry is lightly browned. Let cool, and dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serve in small wedges.

Ratings

5 out of 5
226 user ratings
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Comments

I made this mostly as written but with a few shortcuts -- I bought ground almond and hazelnuts and used 1 cup of each (no kitchen scale but figured out from various websites). That worked well. I also make it in a rectangular pan, and I didn't do any rolling. To me, Linzertorte is like shortbread dough so I patted it into the pan, slathered with jam and rolled thin, lattice-like dough strips to criss-cross on it. It came out delicious with a lot less work.

I have made this every Thanksgiving since David Tanis put the recipe in the Times. It is actually a pretty simple recipe if you remember to start ahead of time. I basically follow the recipe with a few changes. I use almond or hazelnut flour instead of roasting and grinding whole nuts, it saves time and comes out just as well. I have also made this gluten-free just by substituting a gluten-free flour blend, and the recipe works really well that way! Thank you David Tanis!!

I will try again. I'm comfortable working with pastry dough but found this very difficult to handle. Keeping it cold helps, but I was tempted to use a piping bag for the lattice. A good dusting of powdered sugar did spruce it up aesthetically.
I stopped grinding the nuts at a cornmeal texture, but the crust ended up quite mealy. I will go for a finer grind next time, and hope this creates a more delicate texture.
Flavor of crust was delicious. Works beautifully to sub in fine rasp jam.

A lot of dough left over - the dough seemed softer than other recipes I've use. Toasting nuts at 400 for 10 minutes of course they burned (my sense of smell is a victim to spring pollen). Luckily I had extra! I didn't bother with chilling the dough- by now running late - assume this is just for presentation? It looks great more rustic. Wish there was advice on how long to cook without frozen dough, I've set timer at 20 min to check. Don't trust my nose.

I've made this for Thanksgiving more than once: it's delicious and beautiful (although I prefer the way it looks without the pastry "rope," and like to cut the lattice with a pastry wheel for pretty pinked edges). That said, my copy of the recipe has "huh?" and "no" scribbled on it: Toasting nuts at 400 degrees?!? And the sugar & flour weights are not equivalent to the dry measurements given; like another commenter, I just went with something in between and hoped it would work.

This torte is so good that I am making it for two more holiday dinners. Instead of using water, I added about 1/2 cup of tawny port. I’ve also used ruby port. If the cranberries are too soupy, I just cooked them down to the right consistency. With any leftover dough I made cookies with a thumb print of berry jam. YUM!

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