For as long as I can remember, Linzer cookies have been an essential part of every holiday in my family. Maybe that’s why, having eaten too much of it as a child, I didn’t want any at all for a very long time. And therefore, I also never wanted to learn how it is made. It’s gone straight into my handwritten cookbook alongside other traditional Hungarian cookies that I prefer to leave to my mum because they’re too complicated to make.
And that was until one day my husband came up with the wish to treat his dad to some Hungarian sweets for his birthday. What if – he asked – for example, I tried to make that flower-shaped cake that he eats at my mom’s? I love a challenge and I’m always happy to bring a little taste of home into our everydays, so I said yes. I called my mum, asked for the Linzer recipe and, despite all my alarming feelings, I started baking. And I have to say, I don’t regret finally getting around to it, because it’s a super simple cookie. So, in order to dispel any further prejudices, I decided to share with you my mum’s ultimate Hungarian Linzer recipe.
Did you know?
Linz-linzer parallel
Linzer cake, as the name suggests, originates from the Austrian city of Linz. I had long suspected that it was not of Hungarian origin, but the fact that I have never made the Linz – linzer connection in my whole life is almost scandalous 😀
Almond cake
The traditional recipe for Linzer cake contains almond flour, which gives the cake a rich, nutty flavour. This might be a huge surprise only to me, because we make it with plain white flour. In any case, I might try the almond variation one day.
One of the oldest cookies
The history of Linzer pastries goes back much further than you might think, with the oldest recipe dating back to the 1700s. To be fair, we are talking about a whole cake, but the recipe for linzer is often referred to as one of the oldest known cake recipes in the world.
Spicy variations
Some Linzer recipes are flavoured with spices in addition to the usual vanilla, and while I can imagine cinnamon, for example, cloves and especially nutmeg are a bit surprising to me.
The Linzer recipe
Ingredients:
- 40 dkg flour
- 25 dkg butter
- 13 dkg powder sugar
- 1 egg
- pinch of salt
- pinch of vanilla
Steps:
1. Mix all the ingredients and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
2. Allow the dough to “warm up” a little at room temperature (by this I simply mean that you should not start rolling with a rolling pin strait away) and roll it out on a floured surface. Nekem az a tapasztalatom, hogy a fenti adagokkal két részletben érdemes kinyújtani a tésztát.
3. Kiszaggatjuk a süteményeket.
4. Előmelegített sütőben (180-200 fok) 10-15 percig sütjük.
5. Ezek után 30 percig hagyjuk hűlni a linzereket.
6. Tetszőleges lekvárral megtöltjük a sütiket.
7. Vannak, akik a legvégén megszórják porcukorral.
Remélem, hogy nektek is igazi sikerélmény lesz kipróbálni anyukám receptjét. Ha pedig következőnek egy svájci receptet próbálnátoűok ki, akkor kattintsatok ide a sajtfondü receptemért.
