Not only the Sacher from the Austrian cuisine, think about how good the Linzer Torte Tart with buckwheat is! The Austrian festive dessert to enjoy year-round in pastry shops, today the Linz Recipe arrives on my blog! There are two stories linked to the origin of this Christmas dessert: the first focuses on the city of Linz, which seems to have given both the name and origins to this tart. The second story, however, features the Viennese confectioner Linzer, who appears to be the inventor of this recipe!
There is also a date in the timeline of this Austrian cake and it’s 1882. From this particular year, it is known that the Linzer Torte was produced massively, spreading beyond Austrian borders thanks to Johann Konrad Vogel, who fell in love with and then married the widow of a pastry chef, Katherina Kreb. This loving couple were the most affectionate parents, with them the Linz Recipe quickly became the most famous winter cake in northern Europe.
Then there’s the story of the Austrian traveler Franz Holzilhuber, who brought the Linzer recipe with buckwheat to America. Historical references indicate its presence at a certain point, in Milwaukee in Wisconsin.
Whatever the true story of the birth of this cake with buckwheat flour and raspberry jam, I can tell you that it is a warm embrace, a scent of home that will envelop, intoxicate, and make you feel Christmas and its magical atmosphere from the first bite!
Today I present to you the Linzer Torte Tart version that I had the pleasure of tasting, year after year, at the Christmas Markets between Bolzano, Merano, Vipiteno, Bressanone, and Innsbruck. My mother and I loved those Christmas escapes to Trentino and Austria, where the magic of the holidays transforms villages and cities into unique places in the world. I enjoyed the Linz Cake also in Vienna at one of the historic pastry shops (Konditorei), the Hotel Sacher, where, of course, besides the famous Sacher Torte, the Linzer Torte is also served. I remember ordering the Linzer with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and cream, delicious and super fragrant thanks to cinnamon and cloves.
Before moving on to the Linzer Tart recipe, I’ll leave you with other recipes that you can make using buckwheat flour, such as Twisted Cookies, Multigrain Bread, Valtellina Pizzoccheri, and then another version of the Linzer Torte that I made a few years ago: the Buckwheat Cake with Raspberry Jam, easy and quick to prepare. Each link below is clickable and will take you directly to the recipe you chose to read here on my blog.
I remind you that I await you every morning in the group and on the Facebook fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day, the perfect way to start the day all together with a sweet good morning!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, Christmas
- Energy 747.26 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 101.01 (g) of which sugars 53.03 (g)
- Proteins 10.09 (g)
- Fat 36.03 (g) of which saturated 16.79 (g)of which unsaturated 9.64 (g)
- Fibers 6.13 (g)
- Sodium 107.41 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 190 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for a 9-inch Linzer Torte Tart
- 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup almond flour (or hazelnut flour)
- 2/3 cup brown sugar (or classic white sugar)
- 2/3 cup butter (softened at room temperature)
- 1 egg (at room temperature)
- to taste ground cinnamon
- Half pack baking powder
- 2 cloves (crumble them by hand)
- to taste lemon zest (grated)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 1/2 cup raspberry jam (or extra raspberry preserve)
You can reduce the buckwheat flour amount to 1/3 cup and the all-purpose flour to 1 1/4 cups. Keep the 1 cup of almond flour, please. At this point, you can also add 1 cup of hazelnut flour to give more flavor and taste to the Linzer Tart version tart.
I would like to emphasize that the butter must be kept at room temperature on the kitchen counter for at least one hour before being used in this recipe. It is essential that it is not cold, that it is well workable to prevent lumps from forming or not incorporating well with the other ingredients.
Before proceeding with the recipe, another tip regarding the butter: if you prepare this Linzer Torte tart during the summer, reduce the amount. Initially, I had inserted a dose of 1 cup of butter, but in summer it is definitely too much. A kind follower wrote to me saying she tried it in August and it was too greasy as a result. Therefore, I reduced the indicated amount to 2/3 cup. My advice is to gradually work the butter with the flours, adding a little at a time so as not to overdo it and ruin the final result. By doing so, you will be able to control the dough and potentially add or not add the butter to the flour mixture.
Tools to prepare the Linzer Torte Tart
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Scale
- 1 Wooden Board
- 1 Silicone Rolling Pin
- 1 Tart Pan
- 1 Oven
- 1 Knife
- 3 Small Bowls
- 1 Metal Scraper
- 1 Plastic Wrap
Steps for the Linzer Torte Tart Recipe with Buckwheat
As previously mentioned, we will start with the processing of the flours with the butter, which will now be nice and soft. We pour the three flours into a large bowl with high sides and ample space, weigh the amount of buckwheat flour, then the almond flour, and then the classic flour. We also add to the bowl the brown sugar or white sugar, as you prefer. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon, add the two cloves crumbling them by hand, and as the last ingredient, half a pack of baking powder. Mix with a spoon. At this point, we can add a pinch of salt.
Break the egg into the bowl, which must be at room temperature, then gradually add the butter pieces. Initially, we can work the ingredients with a spoon, then inevitably we will work with our hands. I recommend keeping the wooden board near you if you cannot work the dough of the Linzer Torte in the bowl.
I warn you, it will be quite a workout: buckwheat flour is not like classic flour that kneads easily, it will take some force and the butter needs to warm up to blend everything. Buckwheat flour is gluten-free, so this dough must be worked well, otherwise, before and after baking, you risk the tart crumbling, making the dessert less appealing. The taste of this dessert will reward your efforts, you’ll see and feel it!
Form a nice ball and wrap it with plastic wrap. Place the ball of shortcrust pastry in the refrigerator, in the lower part, for at least two hours. Please note, this time interval is also very important for the good outcome of the dessert.
After this time, we can proceed with the recipe. Turn on the oven in static mode at 320°F. Place the rack in the middle of the oven, it’s there where we’ll bake the tart with raspberries. Take the 9-inch tart pan and butter the bottom and sides. Keep it aside near you on the work surface.
For this recipe, I used for the first time the silicone pastry board for tarts and cookies, I leave you the link (click here) to purchase it if you are interested. I found it really convenient compared to the wooden board.
Roll out the shortcrust pastry with buckwheat flour, keep a portion aside to create the edges and the classic tart strips. Obviously, do not overdo it, otherwise, you risk it becoming too hard. To help you roll out the shortcrust pastry you can use white flour to avoid sticking to the rolling pin, I recommend using a silicone rolling pin for this pastry.
Place the shortcrust bottom in the pan, pour in the raspberry jam and level the surface with the back of a spoon. Then prepare the strips to decorate the surface, also create the edges and arrange everything on the base with the raspberry jam. Be careful at this stage, the jam is slippery.
I also cut out some shortcrust hearts to make this Linzer Torte even more romantic and pay homage to the couple who made this recipe famous and introduced it to the world. Bake the Linz Cake in the middle rack of the oven and let it cook for 40 to 45 minutes at 320°F in static mode.
Once ready, let it rest at room temperature for at least two hours before removing it from the pan. If you’ve used a springform pan this step will be quick, if you made the tart in a pan like mine, you will need to use two plates: the first on top, flip and with the second placed on the base, flip again.
Now the Linz Cake is finally ready to be enjoyed. If you like, you can also add powdered sugar, as you already know, I don’t like it, so I didn’t add this ingredient. I preferred to decorate my tart with fresh raspberries.
At this point, all I have left is to wish you a good appetite and remind you that I await you every morning in the group and on the Facebook fan page with the Recipe of the Day!
Tips, storage, and variations:
Main tip: do not raise the oven temperature too much, this cake needs to bake at 320°F for a time ranging from 40 to 45 minutes. Then place the oven rack in the middle, it is there where we will bake the 9-inch pan with the Linzer Torte.
The main variation is the addition of hazelnut flour, as already indicated under the list of ingredients necessary for the preparation of the Linz Cake. I have no other variations to recommend because, in my opinion, changing any ingredient might alter the taste and even the flavor of the cake you are about to enjoy.
You can store the Linz Tart in a cake container after letting it cool for at least two hours at room temperature. If not, you risk moisture forming inside. In fact, I recommend removing the cake from the pan after two hours to avoid this unpleasant issue. The cake container will then ensure that the fragrance and texture remain the same even the days following the preparation of the Linzer Torte.
