Strawberry And Apricot Linzertorte Hearts Food

LINZER HEART COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Toast hazelnuts until skins darken and begin to split, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a clean dish towel, and rub vigorously to remove skins; discard skins. Place nuts in a food processor; pulse until medium fine.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar at medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs; beat until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, hazelnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and zest. Add to butter mixture; beat to combine, about 1 minute. Place in freezer until very firm, about 30 minutes.
• Liberally dust a clean surface with flour, and roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out seventy-two hearts. To make top halves of cookies, use a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out centers from thirty-six of the hearts.
• Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, and bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled.
• Lightly sift confectioners' sugar over cookie tops. Spread about 1 teaspoon jam on each of the bottom halves, and sandwich both halves together. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

APRICOT ALMOND LINZERTORTE

Steps:

• Make pastry:
• Pulse toasted almonds and sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely ground. Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves into a bowl, then add to ground nuts in processor and pulse to combine.
• Lightly beat yolks, extracts, and zest in a small bowl with a fork. Add to food processor along with butter, then pulse until dough forms a ball. Form one third of dough into a disk, then roll out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap into a 10-inch round. Transfer to a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 10 minutes. Roll out remaining dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap into a 12-inch round, then transfer to another baking sheet and chill until firm, about 10 minutes.
• Make filling:
• Simmer water, sugar, brandy, and apricots in a small saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until apricots are tender and liquid is syrupy, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer mixture to cleaned food processor and pulse until almost smooth. Spread mixture onto a plate and chill 15 minutes.
• Bake torte:
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
• Remove bottom of springform pan and invert, then lock on side. Remove larger dough round from refrigerator and peel off top layer of plastic wrap, then invert round into pan (pastry will break in spots). Press dough evenly onto bottom, then discard plastic. Fold in edge of dough and press 1/2 inch up side of pan (side will be thicker than bottom). Press gently to close any cracks.
• Bake pastry until lightly browned, about 20 minutes, then cool completely on a rack, about 30 minutes. (Dough will puff up as it bakes but will settle as it cools.)
• Spread filling into crust with an offset spatula or back of a spoon.
• Peel top layer of plastic wrap from smaller dough round, then cut round into 1/2-inch-wide strips. (Chill strips again if necessary.) Arrange half of strips over filling about 1 inch apart, pressing ends onto edge of torte. Arrange remaining strips across first strips to form a simple lattice. Press edges together with your fingertips.
• Bake until top is browned, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely, about 2 hours.
• Before serving, remove side of pan and dust edge of torte with confectioners sugar.

STRAWBERRY AND APRICOT LINZERTORTE HEARTS

Steps:

• In a food processor pulse almonds with granulated sugar until chopped fine. Add confectioners' sugar, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, zest, and salt and pulse until combined well. Add butter and pulse until combined. Add whole egg and yolk and pulse until dough just holds together. Divide dough into fourths and form into disks (dough will be sticky). Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 325° F.
• Roll out 1 dough disk (keeping remaining disks chilled) between sheets of wax paper into a 1/4-inch-thick round (10 to 11 inches in diameter) and freeze between wax paper on a tray until very firm, about 10 minutes. Roll out and freeze remaining 3 dough disks in same manner.
• Remove top sheet of paper from 1 round and with a 3 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter cut out hearts, chilling scraps. (If dough becomes too soft to work with at any time, freeze on wax paper until very firm.) With a 1-inch heart-shaped cutter cut and lift out centers (making 2 additional decorative heart cutouts in some cookies) from half of large hearts.
• Arrange whole hearts and cut-out hearts 1/2 inch apart on baking sheets and bake in batches in middle of oven 12 to 15 minutes, or until edges are pale golden. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. (Cookies will continue to firm up as they cool.) With a spatula carefully transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining 3 dough rounds and scraps in same manner.
• On a work surface arrange whole hearts, bottoms down. Drop 1 teaspoon of either jam on each cookie, spreading almost to edges, and top with cut-out hearts. Spoon some remaining jam into centers. Cookies may be made 4 days ahead and chilled between layers of wax paper in an airtight container. Bring cookies to room temperature before serving.

EASY LINZERTORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, almonds, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg. Gradually add flour mixture, beating on low speed just until the mixture comes together to form a dough.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Remove one-third dough, and set aside. Roll out remaining dough to 1/8 inch thick. Fit into a 9-inch square or round tart pan, pressing into corners and sides. Using a paring knife, trim the dough flush with edges of pan, and patch any holes or tears with extra dough.
• Roll out reserved dough into a rectangle at least 13 inches long and 1/8 inch thick. Cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Transfer to a baking sheet; refrigerate, along with shell in pan, 30 minutes.
• Over medium heat, melt the raspberry jam in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat, strain through a fine sieve, and let the jam cool slightly.
• Remove tart pan from refrigerator, and pour jam into shell. Remove dough strips from refrigerator, and arrange over the top in a lattice pattern. Trim the excess dough, and press ends into edge of shell to adhere. Bake until pastry is golden brown and jam is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust top with confectioners' sugar, and serve.

APRICOT-AND-STRAWBERRY GALETTE

Steps:

• Pate Brisee:Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-size pieces remaining. Drizzle with 1/3 cup ice water and pulse until mixture holds together when pressed between fingertips. Add additional water if needed; do not overprocess. Transfer mixture to a piece of plastic wrap. Divide in two; knead once or twice. Form into two rectangular disks and wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Frangipane:Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toast hazelnuts on a baking sheet, stirring once, until deep golden brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely, about 15 minutes; then grind in a food processor until fine. Add sugar, butter, flour, egg yolk, liqueur, and salt; process to combine. Frangipane can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 day; return to room temperature before using.
• Fruit:On lightly floured parchment, roll 1 disk pate brisee into a 12-by-10-inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick (reserve remaining disk for another use). Transfer on parchment to a rimmed baking sheet. Spread frangipane evenly over dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Stir together apricots, strawberries, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt. Arrange fruit mixture in a single layer over frangipane. Fold dough over fruit, leaving center uncovered. Brush crust with egg white, brushing under folds to help seal.
• Bake until golden brown and bubbling in center, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Slide galette off of pan onto a wire rack. Serve slightly warm or room temperature. The galette is best eaten the day it's made, but can be stored, lightly tented with foil, for up to one day at room temperature.