Chocolate Linzertorte

A traditional Austrian dessert gets only better with a little cocoa.

The cooking ghosts visited again while I was testing a linzertorte recipe for this week. The smell of the freshly ground toasted hazelnuts was as close to a time machine as I’ll get. One whiff of the buttery smell, and I was back in my childhood kitchen, my mother, very pleased with her brand new Cuisinart food processor that could pulverize nuts in 30 seconds, saying “Think how much time we saved not having to grind them by hand!”

My family’s celebration desserts tended towards the central European. Austria to be exact, which is where my father was born and lived until Hitler came along and said get out or else. Sachertorte, linzertorte and vanilla kipferln were desserts for special occasions

Linzertorte and linzer cookies, of course, were often the star of dessert on Christmas–yes, we were Jew-ish, as Richard Belzer used to say. My mom was from the tribe of Ethical Culture German Jews that inhabited the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and she ensured we celebrated the holiday with gusto. The first Linzertorte recipe I ever made, with encouragement from my mother, was cut from a Williams-Sonoma catalog some time in the 1980s. Since then, I’ve worked on my own take on the famous dessert, incorporating cocoa into the dough and tweaking the spices to suit. I also use hazelnuts, although feel free to use almonds if you prefer. I eschew (bless me!) a traditional lattice top in favor of one made with cookie cutters.

As I was looking through my mother’s collection of recipes, I came across the section marked with my father’s favorites, many of which were written in the odd, elegant Edwardian handwriting of my grandmother, and that included a strawberry tart, some delicious rolled pancakes called palatschinken, and a recipe for a Linzertorte c/o of Lüchow’s, New York’s most famous German restaurant, which ladled out sauerbraten and schnitzel from 1882 to 1986.

Here it is:

I hope you’ll consider Linzertorte for your holiday celebrations this year, and maybe start a new tradition yourself.

Note: How to toast, skin and grind hazelnuts. Toast hazelnuts at 325°F/160°C for about 7 minutes or until they turn very light brown. Remove the warm hazelnuts to a clean kitchen towel and rub the skins off the nuts. Let the nuts cool completely, then pulse the hazelnuts in a food processor with 1 teaspoon sugar until the nuts are ground fine. Stop before it turns to nut butter, which is not the most helpful direction, but be cautious.

Chocolate Linzertorte

Makes 1 9” (23 cm) tart, feeds 8 to 12, depending on how polite you all are

What You’ll Need:

A 9” (23 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom

1 ½ cups (210 grams) hazelnuts, toasted and peels removed (see method under “notes”)

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 ¾ cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour

¼ cup (21 grams) unsweetened cocoa

½ teaspoon kosher salt

14 tablespoons (196 grams) butter, room temperature, cut into 14 pieces

½ cup (99 grams) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 large eggs yolks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

12 ounces raspberry jam

2 tablespoons milk (for brushing the dough)

What You’ll Do:

1. Heat the oven to 375°/190°C. In a food processor with the regular blade, grind the cooled hazelnuts with the teaspoon of sugar until fine.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, unsweetened cocoa and salt.

3. With a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon zest together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. In general, scraping down the sides of the bowl is a very important part of the recipe.

4. Add the egg yolks on low speed, one by one, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition (I told you so!). Add the lemon juice and raise the speed to medium and beat for 20 seconds. Add the flour mixture and beat on low until combined. Scrape! Add the hazelnuts and mix until blended.

5. Put three-quarters of the dough into the tart pan, and with fingers lightly dusted in flour pat the dough evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Spread the jam across the bottom of the tart.

6. Make the top layer of the torte: On top of a piece of parchment paper, roll the remaining dough out into a rough ¼-inch (6 mm) thick circle. Place the tart pan on top and trace the outline onto the dough with a knife. Set aside the extra dough. Place the 9” (23 cm) circle of dough in the freezer for 10 minutes.

7. With the cookie cutters, cut shapes out of the top layer of the tart. (Save the cut-out shapes to bake as cookies after the torte is baked.) Place the circle of dough on top of the torte, and seal to the edge of the tart. Brush the top with milk. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the jam is bubbling and the dough seems firm. Let cool. As it says in my grandmother’s notes, this is better the day after it’s made. Serve with whipped cream, aka schlag.

Marissa Rothkopf Bates writes about food for the New York Times, Newsweek (RIP) and Publishers’ Weekly among others. Her newest book, “The Secret Life of Chocolate Chip Cookies,” is available for wherever fine books are sold. Find her on Substack here.

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