My Spicy Linzer Recipe (quick & easy)
This is such an adaptable cake. You can make one large Linzer Torte or make little ones that are so crispy and make the best Christmas biscuits.
I go heavy on the almond and spines, the whole house and probably the neighbourhood know you are baking.
For biscuits to give away at Christmas time, I doubled the recipe and got 20 hearts out of it as well as a sheet of little cookies with the pastry offcuts.
INGREDIENTS:
Pastry
7 oz (200g) plain flour (sift twice with BP)
1 tspn baking powder
4.5oz (125g) castor sugar
1 bottle Oetker Almond essence
Half teaspoon of each: Ground Cloves, Cinnamon, Nutmeg
2 eggs
4.5oz (125g) unsalted butter
4.5oz (125g) ground almonds (use whatever nuts you have and put them in the blender, skin and all)
Raspberry Jam
Beaten egg yolk
Icing Sugar to dust
This is easy, I put all dry ingredients, spices & essences in a mixing bowl with a dough hook, then add chopped cold butter and lastly eggs. it will eventually come together. Don’t let it over work and you can finish this by hand.
I find the mixture can be quite sticky so in order to not use any extra flour, I roll out thinly between two sheets baking paper. Once it is thin (about the thickness of a coin) I put the whole sheet on the fridge to chill. Then use a cookie cutter, cut out shapes, in this case hearts. Spread the base with jam and then top with an identical shape to the base. Use a little star cutter to cut out the centre of the cookie top. See the image. Put cookie tray back in fridge for 10 mins, then spread with a little beaten egg. Bake for 10 mins and turn sheet around and bake for another 10, On a moderate heat.
Check cookies as you don’t want the bottom soft. Once baked, put on a cookie rack to cool. Important that air gets to the bottom of the cookie so they stay crisp. If you let them cool on the baking tray, it retains moisture which results in soft biscuits.
Dust with a little icing sugar and store in a airtight tin. Or even put them in packets for xmas gifts.
Bon apetit!
