Let Them Eat Cake:
Linzer “Celebration Cookie”

CAPSULE REPORT: Some cities achieve fame through beauty (Paris), power (New York) or the ability to entertain (Las Vegas). The city of Linz, Austria is like Bialystock, Russia, home of the bialy (cousin to the bagel), Frankfurt, Germany, home of the slender sausage that achieved immortality when served on a roll,* and Pils, Czechoslovakia, which brewed a great style of beer (pilsner) to drink with it. Say the city’s name and what’s the first word association? The food named after it.

*At Coney Island, New York City, in 1871. See the History Of The Hot Dog.

Linz gave us the Linzertorte (Linzer Torte is the English spelling), and gets additional honors, too: The Linzertorte is the oldest-known torte† recipe in the world. The earliest-found written version dates to a manuscript from 1653. This doesn’t mean that the torte did not exist prior to then, just that it is the first proof as to the approximate date and place of its origin. As with any item, it is likely to have developed some time prior to its first-known written record.

†As opposed to a cake, a torte replaces all or most of the flour in a typical recipe with ground nuts. Almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts are most often used.

Over time, the exceedingly popular Linzertorte, an almond or hazelnut short crust filled with jam, was made into tartlets and cookies. And now, we can celebrate because Let Them Eat Cake, an artisan baker in New York City, has created a spectacular dessert or gift that’s delicious year-round, but perfect for the holidays. It looks like a beautiful, round cake, but has been pre-cut into 12 slices. The raspberry jam gleams through the heart-shaped cutouts, and the surface glistens with crystalline sanding sugar. For the dining table, buffet, workplace or picnic, the cookie can be eaten with a fork or with the fingers. Available in raspberry, apricot or chocolate filling, only a grinch would overlook this opportunity to celebrate. Read the full review below.

• Read reviews of more of our favorite cookies and cakes.
• See the Table of Contents of the November issue of THE NIBBLE, plus the back issues archive and our most popular articles.
• All of the Top Pick Of The Week newsletters are permanently archived on TheNibble.com, in chronological order and by product category.
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INDEX OF REVIEW

Click on the black links to visit other pages.

• Page 1: Capsule Report
• Page 1: Introduction ~ History Of The
  Linzer Torte & Linzer Cookie
• Page 2: Linzer Cookie Details
• Page 2: Buy Linzer Cookie Online

MORE TO DISCOVER

• THE NIBBLE’s Cookies & Cakes Section
• Other “Top Pick Of The Week”
  Cookies & Cakes
• RECIPE: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
  A lighter variation of pumpkin pie, with a
  1950s retro flair.

Introduction: History Of The Linzertorte

As with many foods—including those as recent as the brownie, which first appeared in the first decade of the 20th century (see the History Of The Brownie), the “inventor” of the Linzer Torte (in German, Linzertorte) recipe is not known; nor do we know who named the torte after its presumed city of birth in 1696. But, perhaps 400 years ago, someone mixed ground almonds, sugar, butter, flour, egg yolks, lemon zest and juice, and cinnamon into an almond short-crust pastry.

In this case, the torte is more of a pie than a cake: crust is filled with black currant jam and topped with a lattice made of dough strips. The pastry is brushed with lightly beaten egg whites prior to baking. (Currants are plentiful in Austria but not in the U.S., which is why raspberry jam is most often used.) Fancier versions, such as the one on the photo at right, add sliced almonds as an embellishment.

Not your grandmother’s simple lattice-strip top, this most elegant interpretation of the Linzertorte was crafted by a baker in Linz, Austria. Photo courtesy of Linz Tourism.