Linzertorte

Salut Devon,

I recently spent a lovely afternoon playing piano duets and baking with my lady friend, Gunhild. We had a great time, both at the keyboard and in the kitchen. She has one of those amazing apartments filled with sentimental objects: faded prints, colorful rugs, dusty books printed in German Gothic type, and best of all, a grand piano and a harpsichord. Her apartment is in a beautiful part of upper Manhattan near Fort Tryon Park. Happy squeals from the children in the nearby playground drift through the open window as our linzertorte quietly bakes.


I had tasted Gunhild's linzertorte many times and always found it delicious. I figured the recipe was in her Austrian blood. So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw that the recipe came from an old edition of the Joy of Cooking! My astonishment was even greater when she handed me a gleaming copper bowl and a wooden spoon. Gunhild came of age before the electric mixer was widespread. If generations of bakers managed to make linzertortes without it, I suppose I could, too, at least for one afternoon. I did loudly object when she instructed me to beat the butter for an hour. This was seriously hard work. Even with soft butter, the process is slow and tedious. Adding flour, chopped nuts, and eggs only increased the effort. As the process wore on, I could feel the burn in my shoulder and the kink in my neck. All I can say is: I love my electric mixer.

With our linzertorte batter cooling in the freezer, I took a much needed rest with a restorative cup of tea. Freezing really helped to bring the batter together. The room temperature butter had gotten a bit too soft and greasy. 20 minutes or so later, we pulled it from the freezer and began building the torte. The 9-inch round springform pan was brought out and filled with 3/4 of the batter. Next came a thick, dark, luscious layer of raspberry jam. Use good jam (and butter) for this recipe. It definitely makes a difference. In lieu of piping the decorative lattice on top, Gunhild dipped her fingers into a nearby bowl of flour and rolled out skinny coils of dough. After the fuss I made over the electric mixer, I think she was a bit self-conscious about her latticework, insisting that she needed a piping bag. But I disagree: I love the rustic, uneven look of the hand-formed lattice. The linzertorte went into the hot oven and we headed over to the piano.


With the pleasant afternoon and the delectable linzertorte lingered in my thoughts, I decided to try it on my own with an electric mixer. Though I had faithfully copied her recipe, I consulted my edition of the Joy of Cooking. To my surprise, the recipes are different. For better or worse, I'm not sure. But I take comfort in her well-worn recipe. A few substitutions were made. Hazelnuts for almonds, and the flavor of jam. Raspberry jam was low, so I combined it with a blackberry variety from my favorite Italian grocery store at the Chelsea Markets. Good jam is one of my must haves. I don't eat jam a lot, but when I do, I want it to taste like fresh fruit. Some jams tend to be more sugar than fruit, making them excessively sticky and a bit tart. In place of the springform pan, I pulled out a 13 inch rectangular tart pan that I've been dying to use.
The resulting torte can only be described in my dear friend Fatima's recent email:

I thoroughly thoroughly thoroughly loved that torte! It tasted like a cross between a pecan shortbread and sour cherry pie -- DELICIOUS! I can't even say I like linzertortes -- I pass them by every time I see them, but that one was so buttery, nutty, semi-tart, goodness...it was a gem of a treat, THANKS.



Linzertorte
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp lemon zest
1 cup hazelnuts
1 1/4 cup flour, sifted
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
8 oz raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roast hazelnuts on a large baking sheet until fragrant. Using a large dishtowel, rub off the skins while the nuts are hot. Grind in a food processor. Set aside until ready to use.

Beat together sugar and butter until smooth. Beat in eggs, lemon zest, and ground hazelnuts. Sift flour, cloves, and cinnamon. Using a rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients. Cool in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.

Let the dough come to room temperature. Spoon 3/4 of the batter into baking pan. Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, smooth out the batter into a smooth layer. Evenly, spread jam over the batter. With lightly floured fingers, roll remaining batter into long coils. Carefully arrange half the coils about 1 1/2 inches apart on the tart. Place the remaining coils on top at right angles to the already placed coils, forming a lattice pattern.

Bake until lattice is golden brown. 9 inch springform bakes for 50 minutes. 13 inch rectangular give 40-45 minutes.


I use the leftover batter to make butter cookies. Roll the remaining dough into small balls and place on a lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes until light golden brown.

Almond Chocolate Biscotti

Dear Devon,

Settling back into routine after a long and restful vacation has been my biggest challenge these first few weeks of January 2010. It's awful to realize that *gasp* you work five days a week! Notwithstanding, I've started to hate the alarm clock, cruel, insensitive machine! Stop your infernal ringing at 8:15 AM. It's just horrible to be so violently awoken. To ease the pain of waking, I made some biscotti for my morning coffee. It helps and thus far I have not succumbed to the temptation to turn back the alarm another hour.

The simple fact about my existence is, I need to have cookies in the house. I am not a big snack food person, but somehow I feel a day cannot be complete without one or maybe two cookies. The sun rises and sets, and I have my cookies. Upon returning to New York, I discovered my apartment to be cookie-free. (I guess I decided that air travel couldn't be tolerated without cookies, either.) I pulled out my books and started dreaming up some wonderful delights. Biscotti caught my eye. It has been awhile since I made biscotti. They have always been well-received and now that I am an occasional drinker I am enjoying them even more.


Making biscotti is one of those things that seems more impressive than it really is. The directions are slightly more difficult than your basic cookie. After making the batter, divide the dough in half and shape into two long loaves on a single parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Leave about two inches between the loaves. In the past, I underestimated that distance. The result was an interconnected log of baked cookie. Slicing the loaves is the part I look forward to the most, something about using a bread knife. Place the slices on the baking sheet and continue baking, flipping once for even baking. I hate flipping the hot slices. I just don't have the patience to flip forty biscotti. My solution is to call someone over while I mull over the stresses in the kitchen. Baking is never without drama.

Dorie Greenspan, my great friend, again provided the basic recipe. With this recipe, she lists a number of variations. I opened my pantry to see what was available. Hazelnuts and chocolate would have made a great combination, but I was too lazy to roast my hazelnuts. Dried fruit is nice but I only had dried apples, not for this recipe, and somehow cranberries seemed too sweet. I found a stash of pumpkin seeds stored in a glass jar with a brown gingham top. I had purchased a huge lot of them for a yummy granola I made before the holidays. Dorie called for sliced almonds, so why not flat, green pumpkin seeds? I tossed in 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips for fun and threw the whole thing in the oven.




I first made these biscotti using cornmeal and vanilla, opting against almond flavoring. The cornmeal makes the cookie a bit lighter but the texture can be slightly gritty. For my second batch, I used ground almonds and almond extract. Intensely fragrant, almond extract is not a flavoring I often use. I was a bit surprised by the result. It was a bit sweeter than I like. I toyed with the idea of reducing the amount of almond extract, but upon discussion with my testers was convinced against tampering with the recipe. The chocolate and almond flavors pair beautifully, but the pumpkin seeds are a bit too subtle. Their biggest contribution is the delightful green specks scattered throughout the cookie.

Soon the kitchen and living room were filled with a heady aroma from the oven. Perfectly lined up on the sheets, the sliced cookies were a welcome sight for this cookie monster. And someone stole a bite while they were cooling on the window sill (no, it wasn't me)!




Almond Chocolate Biscotti
adapted from Dorie Greenspan Baking: From My Home To Yours
makes a week's worth or 28 to 32 biscotti

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) room temperature butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup + couple of handfuls pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt. In a second large bowl, beat the softened butter with sugar, using a hand mixer or the beater attachment. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat in almond extract. Gradually add flour mixture and blend just until mixed. I like to finish the mixing by hand to avoid overmixing. Using a flexible rubber spatula, fold in chocolate chips and 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment or silpat. Divide the dough roughly in half. Form the dough into two even logs, roughly 2 inches wide by 12 inches long. Use a knife to assist in making the logs more rectangular. Sprinkle the tops with a few handfuls of pumpkin seeds. Bake in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes. The logs should be a light golden brown and spring back when gently touched. Cool for 30 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Leave the oven on.

When the logs are cool, carefully remove them from the baking sheet and place on a large cutting board. Use a sharp bread knife, cut the logs into 1 inch slices. Place the slices on the pan, cut side up. Return to the oven and continue baking for 10 minutes. Flip the slices over and bake for another 10 minutes. I like to arrange the slices so that they all face the same direction: That way I can tell which slices have been flipped. The biscotti are done when they are lightly golden and slighly crispy. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Don't be alarmed if the biscotti feel a bit fragile, they will harden as they cool. Store in an air tight container. In my experience, they are best eaten within the week.

For a slight variation, substitute ground almonds for the 1/2 cup cornmeal and switch almond extract for vanilla in the same proportion.