Chocolate Linzer Torte Stars Food

LINZER STARS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together hazelnut flour, 2 cups cake flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Pulse pecans and remaining 1/2 cup cake flour in a food processor until finely ground (but not wet); add to bowl with flour mixture.
• Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in egg. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture until combined. Divide dough in half, shape each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out each disk of dough to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Refrigerate on a baking sheet for 20 minutes.
• Cut out star shapes using a 3-inch cutter. Cut a star from the center of half the cookies using a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter. Transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each 2 inches apart.
• Bake until pale gold, 13 to 14 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheets set on wire racks for 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks, and let cool completely.
• Dust cookies with confectioners' sugar. Spread 1/2 teaspoon preserves onto the center of each uncut star; top with cutout stars, offsetting, if desired, to create a "burst."

CHOCOLATE LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. , Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one portion to 1/8-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. round cookie cutter. Roll out remaining dough; cut with a 2-1/2-in. floured doughnut cutter so the center is cut out of each cookie. , Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool., Spread melted chocolate over the bottoms of solid cookies. Place cookies with cutout centers over chocolate. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon jam in center of each cookie.

CRANBERRY LINZER TORTE

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Lower heat to a brisk simmer and stir frequently, until cranberries burst. Continue cooking, mashing fruit a bit with the back of a spoon, until thick as jam, about 30 minutes. Set aside. (Filling may be prepared in advance.)
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place hazelnuts and almonds on a baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes, until well browned. Rub skins off hazelnuts while still warm, discarding skins. Cool nuts, then grind finely in a food processor, adding 3 tablespoons of flour to keep them from becoming oily. (Nuts should have the texture of coarse cornmeal.) Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment, combine butter, sugar, and lemon and orange zest. Beat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, mix together ground nuts, the rest of the flour, cloves, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture in three parts, mixing each time until it forms a slightly sticky dough.
• Divide dough into two pieces, one slightly bigger. Form larger piece into a ball, wrap and flatten to a 1-inch thickness. Form smaller piece into a rough rectangle, wrap and flatten to a 1-inch thickness about 4 by 5 inches. Chill 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.
• Heat oven to 350. Butter and flour an 11-inch fluted French tart pan. Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand for 10 minutes. On floured parchment paper, roll the larger piece of dough into a 12-inch circle, dusting the top with flour as necessary. If dough is difficult to handle, chill again. Pat evenly into pan until sides and bottom are completely lined with dough about 1/8-inch thick. Refrigerate or freeze tart shell until firm.
• Roll out smaller piece of dough on floured parchment paper to rectangle about 10 by 12 inches and 1/8-inch thick. Cut into strips about 3/4 inch by 12 inches. Transfer parchment to a tray and refrigerate or freeze until firm.
• Spread cranberry jam evenly into shell. Lay strips across top in a lattice pattern. Form remaining dough scraps into a rope 1/2 inch in diameter and use it to encircle outer edge of tart. Score diagonally with the handle of a spoon or flute with fingers to make a border.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until jam is bubbling and pastry is lightly browned. Let cool, and dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serve in small wedges.

CHOCOLATE LINZERTORTE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan boil the jam, stirring, for 3 minutes and let it cool. In a bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with the granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, beat in the egg yolks, the cinnamon, the zest, and the salt, and beat the mixture until it is smooth. Add the flour and beat the dough until it is just combined. Beat in the hazelnuts and the chocolate.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Press lightly more than half the dough onto the bottom and up the side of an 11-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Roll out the remaining dough between 2 sheets of wax paper into a round slightly thicker than 1/8 inch and freeze the round in the paper on a baking sheet for 15 minutes. Spread the jam evenly on the tart shell to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Remove the top sheet of wax paper from the round of dough, with a pastry wheel or sharp knife cut the round into 1/2-inch-wide strips, and, using a long metal spatula, arrange the strips in a lattice pattern over the jam. Trim the ends of the strips at the edge of the pan and with the remaining dough press a 1/4-inch-thick rim over the ends of the strips. Bake the Linzertorte in the middle of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it is browned lightly, and let it cool in the pan on a rack. The Linzertorte may be made 3 days in advance and kept covered loosely and chilled. Remove the rim of the pan, dust the edge of the Linzertorte with the confectioners' sugar, and serve the Linzertorte with the whipped cream.

HAZELNUT LINZER TORTE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roast the hazelnuts until they smell toasty. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Rub off the skins and cool the nuts another 15 minutes.
• In a food processor grind the nuts with the sugar until finely ground but not pasty. With your hands work in the butter, flour and chocolate together. Add the eggs, one at a time. You just need the egg to hold the dough together; you may need only 1.
• Butter a 13 1/2 x 5 x 2 1/2 inch deep meatloaf pan. Spread about 2/3 of dough in the bottom and up the sides of the pan, spread the jam in the middle and top with more dough. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 5 minutes more, then reduce heat to 300 and bake for 1 hour longer or 1 1/4 hours in all. To test insert a cake tester in dough and it should come out dry. Can be made days ahead of time.

OLD FASHIONED LINZER TORTE

Steps:

• sift togeather flour,sugar,baking powder,salt,cinnamon.
• Cut in brown sugar and butter.
• Add egg and almonds.
• Blend with fork or pastry blender.
• Save 1/2 cup of dough,and chill.
• Press remaning dough into bottom and sides of 8in springform pan.
• (Do not cover rim of pan) Fill with cream filling,top with raspberry sauce.
• Sprinkle remaning dough over top.
• Bake (375) 30 to 35 minutes Cream filling beat egg until fluffy,about 2 monutes.
• Gradually add sugar,beat until thick and lemon colored.
• Blend in 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 tsp salt.
• Gradually add scalded milk,return to top of double boiler,cook (stirring constantly) until thick.
• Cover and cook 4 to 5 minutes,stirring occsionally.
• Add vanilla,cool.
• Raspberry sauce combine raspberries 2 Tsp sugar,2 Tsp corn starch.
• Add lemon juice,bring to boil,cook 5 minutes,unti it starts to thicken.
• Cool.

LINZERTORTE

Steps:

• Grind almonds with half of sugar in a food processor until powdery (be careful not to process to a paste), then transfer to a small bowl.
• Add butter, yolk, and remaining sugar to processor and blend, scraping down sides, until light and fluffy. Add ground almonds, flour, zest, salt, cinnamon, and cloves and pulse, scraping down sides if necessary, until a dough forms. (Dough will be sticky.)
• Divide dough into 1 one-third portion and 1 two-thirds portion and form each portion into a disk on plastic wrap. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and chill until slightly firm, about 30 minutes.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Unwrap larger disk and put in springform pan. Cover surface with plastic wrap and press dough (through plastic wrap) evenly onto bottom and 1/4 inch up side of pan. Discard plastic wrap.
• Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, then transfer crust in pan to a rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes. Leave oven on.
• Roll out remaining dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap into a 9-inch round, then transfer to a baking sheet and freeze 10 minutes. (Round will be thinner than bottom crust.)
• Remove top sheet of plastic and cut dough into 12 (1/2-inch-wide) strips, then freeze strips 5 minutes. Discard any remaining dough.
• Spread jam evenly over cooled crust, leaving a 1/4-inch border around edge, then arrange 6 strips 1 inch apart across jam, pressing ends onto edge of crust. Arrange remaining 6 strips 1 inch apart diagonally across first strips to form a lattice with diamond-shaped spaces. (Repair any broken pieces of dough by carefully pressing them together.) Trim edges of all strips flush with edge of pan.
• Bake until top is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes, then remove side of pan and cool completely.