Red Currant Poppy Seed Linzer Torte Food

AUSTRIAN LINZER TORTE

Steps:

• Place flour, ground almonds, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves on a clean work surface. Add butter and 2 egg yolks; knead quickly to form a smooth dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10-inch springform pan with remaining 1 tablespoon butter.
• Press 2/3 of the dough evenly in the pan so that the entire bottom is covered. Spread red currant jam on top. Divide remaining dough into several pieces and roll into 1/3-inch strands between your fingertips. Arrange the strips over the jam in a neat lattice pattern. Place the last strip along the sides of the pan to form a rim.
• Beat remaining 2 egg yolks and brush over the lattice and rim, taking care not to splash onto the jam.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Watch carefully towards the end of the baking time to make sure the torte does not turn too dark. Let cool and remove gently from the pan. Store for at least 3 days in a cool place before serving.

RED-CURRANT POPPY-SEED LINZER TORTE

Steps:

• Place pecans, flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and process until nuts are finely ground. Add butter and process until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add yolk and pulse until dough just begins to come together. (Dough will be soft.) Divide in half; shape each half into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• On a lightly floured piece of parchment, roll out one disk of dough to an 11-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom (patch with pieces of excess dough, if necessary). Trim dough flush with rim; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Divide second disk into 8 pieces. On an unfloured surface, roll each piece out into a 1/2-inch-thick rope, about 10 inches long. (If dough becomes too soft, refrigerate until firm.) Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle poppy seeds on another rimmed baking sheet along one long edge. Working with one rope at a time, roll to coat in poppy seeds. Refrigerate until just firm, about 10 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread bottom of crust in tart pan with jam. Arrange seed-coated ropes over crust; trim edges flush with inside. To create the wheat stalk, make shallow snips with scissors at a 45-degree angle, cutting about three-quarters of the way through (being careful not to cut all the way through each rope). Move each cut piece to one side, alternating sides with each cut. Repeat at 1/2-inch intervals along each rope.
• Bake torte until golden brown and bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Remove from tart pan and serve, with whipped cream. Torte can be stored in refrigerator, covered, up to 2 days.

POPPY SEED TORTE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Add the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until the dough begins to come together. Turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat into a disk. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Lightly coat a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray. Roll out the dough into a 10-inch round on a lightly floured surface. (If it gets too soft, return to the refrigerator until firm.) Ease the dough into the prepared pan and press into the bottom and up the sides, trimming any excess. Pierce the bottom all over with a fork. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet. Line the crust with foil, then fill with pie weights or dried beans. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven; bake until the crust edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking until the crust is golden all over, 15 to 20 more minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely. (The tart shell can be made up to 1 day ahead.)
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Whisk the sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch and salt in a bowl until combined. Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat (do not boil). Gradually whisk half of the hot milk into the egg mixture, then pour back into the saucepan with the remaining milk and cook, whisking, until thick like pudding, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the butter and vanilla. Pour the filling through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. Let cool to room temperature, stirring frequently, about 30 minutes.
• Beat the heavy cream with a mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream and poppy seeds into the cooled filling. Spoon into the prepared crust and smooth the top. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours or overnight.

LINZER TORTE

Steps:

• Combine the flour, sugar and ground almonds into a pile on a large workspace, then make a well in the middle of the mound.
• Add the butter, egg yolks, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg into the well.
• Knead the dry and wet ingredients with your hands until well-blended and the butter is thoroughly incorporated into the mix.
• Prepare a springform pan by lining it with parchment paper.
• Take roughly 3/4 of the dough and spread it all uniformly across the bottom of the springform pan. It should be at least 1/2 an inch thick, with a slight lip around the edges.
• Combine the jam and brandy in a mixing bowl, then spread across the dough in the springform pan. The lip of the dough should still be higher than the jam; if not, use a little of the remaining dough.
• Divide the rest of the dough into thin strips, and place them across the top of the dough, forming a lattice from edge to edge.
• Bake the torte in a 375-degree oven for 35 minutes, until the jam is bubbling a bit and the dough is starting to turn golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Carefully peel down the edges of the parchment paper away from the edges.
• Sprinkle the top of the torte with confectioner's sugar.

POPPY SEED TORTE

Steps:

• CRUST: Mix together the cracker crumbs, flour, butter and nuts.
• Pat into a 9x13 inch pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
• Let cool.
• FILLING: Prepare pudding with milk.
• Add the poppy seeds.
• Whip and lightly sweeten the cream.
• Fold the cream into the pudding.
• Pour the mixture onto the graham cracker crust.
• Refrigerate.