“The pleasure lies not in the cookies, but in the pattern the crumbs make when the cookies crumble.” -Michael Korda
The Linzer Torte Cookie. These sweet decadent sandwich cookies were a favorite of my grandmother’s. She would always say that butter makes everything taste better. Well, Mema is right again because these cookies are delicious.
I thought for a while on what my first post should be. I wanted it to be something that was close to me, that has meaning. Usually, my favorite thing to bake is cake, partly because it is my preferred dessert, but also because it’s my favorite process to do too. But cake just seemed like too general of a topic to decide on one type to bake, so I thought of my grandmother. She is the main inspiration behind this blog, with her maiden name, Keep, as part of the name of this blog. Her favorite dessert as a child was the Linzer torte cookies which she would get every time she would go with her mother to a local bakery in Brooklyn, NY.
So I ventured to find my grandmother’s recipe that she would use to make them and I was pleasantly surprised that they are relatively easy to make, with not a lot of ingredients in them. Traditionally these cookies were actually a tart, with a lattice top filled with black currant jam. But this version of the original still has all the elements: almond and butter base, jam (in the US raspberry jam is most popular for Linzer torte cookies, instead of black currant), and the hole cut out which mimics a lattice top.
For this recipe, I made my own jam, because I wanted something a little different I went ahead and added a hint of rose to my raspberry jam for a unique flavor. But, of course, if you don’t like the taste of rose you can omit this if you decide to use this recipe to make your own jam.
The one thing that I found tricky when making these cookies was that the dough does need to rest in the fridge for a full two hours. Because it has a butter base it doesn’t take long for the butter to warm up and become fiddly when cutting out the cookies. Working quickly and giving enough time to chill in the fridge is essentially for this bake.
Enjoy this recipe courtesy of my grandmother.
Recipe: Linzer Torte Cookies
Ingredients
¾ cups of butter
½ cups of sugar
1 ½ cups of flour
¾ cups of ground almonds
⅓ cups of jam
Confectionary sugar for dusting
Steps
Beat butter.
Add sugar and beat until fluffy.
Add flour and ground almonds, beat well.
Divide dough in half, cover and chill for 1-2 hours.
Lightly floured board roll dough 1/8 ‘’ thick, then cut into rounds.
Cut a small hole in the center of half of the cookies.
Place cookies on ungreased sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes (edges lightly browned.
After cookies have cool on wire racks spread jam on whole circles then top with the cutout circle.
Shift with confectionary sugar on top.
Recipe: Raspberry-Rose Jam
INGREDIENTS
1 pound raspberries
½ and ¼ cups of sugar
½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon rose water
Steps
Toss raspberries and sugar in a large heavy pot. Let sit until raspberries start to release their juices, 20–30 minutes.
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally at first and then more often as mixture thickens (as sugars concentrate, the jam will be more likely to scorch) until most of the liquid evaporates and the mixture is thickened, 30–40 minutes.
To test for thickness, place a small dollop of jam on a chilled plate and chill 2 minutes. Drag your finger through: It should leave a clear path that doesn’t fill in. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and rose water. Divide between jars, cover, and chill.
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Next bake: Zucchini Cake with a Spice Drizzle.