Gingerbread Linzer Torte

Happy eve of Christmas Eve everyone–we’ve just about reached the Big Day, and I hope that by now you’ve been able to both get and spread some holiday cheer in the form of some baked treats, in no particular order.

Today I’m sharing a recipe that I actually first tested about five or six years ago and intended for a much earlier 12 Days of Christmas. It just ended up being pushed back further and further, year after year, until now. But better late than never, eh?

Linzer torte is an Austrian dessert tart named after the Austrian city, Linz where a shortbread crust is spread and filled with jam/ or preserve, and sometimes with nuts, then topped with a latticed shortbread crust. It’s a very simple desert, that still makes for a very pretty and tasty show-stopper.

For today, I’m sharing a holiday rendition of the classic Linzer Torte that’s made with a few ingredient modifications. First, rather than a regular butter shortbread crust, I’m subbing in a gingerbread one that’s seasoned with all the familiar spices you’d find in a normal gingerbread. We’re also not bothering with a lattice crust this time; rather, I’m giving this torte the same topping I gave to this Cranberry Cookie Tart I made for the 12 Days of Christmas three years ago.

Secondly, rather than using a regular strawberry or raspberry jam/preserve for our filling, I used the recipe for my favorite cranberry sauce that I make every year for the holiday season.

Do you HAVE to make/use it? No, a store-bought fruit spread of any kind will definitely work work here. But I will say that the final results with the clementine-cranberry will be SO worth it.

This is a dessert that tastes like pure holidays; the warm, sweet and comforting spices of the gingerbread cookie blend together with the fresh tart flavor of the cranberry-clementine sauce into what is truly a sublime bite.

It tastes like the kind of dessert that required a lot of time/effort when in reality, (provided you make the cranberry sauce ahead of time) the whole thing comes together in less than 30 minutes.

And…. I guess that’s a wrap for the 12 Days of Christmas you guys. Thanks to all who followed along with this year’s recipes of treats & goodies. Hopefully, you were able to pick some out to try for yourself. And if you weren’t, well that’s okay; there’s still two 1 more day until the Big Day.

As this will probably also be the final recipe of 2023, I’d also like to thank everyone who’s been following along with this blog for this year, and any other years. Cooking is My Sport is my hobby, labor of love, and stress reliever all rolled into one and I’m truly grateful for every click, like, or comment that it gets from all of you.

From my kitchen to yours, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Happy New Year. See you in 2024! <3 😉

Jess

Day 1: Holiday Style- Biscuits & Gravy

Day 2: Cranberry Pie Bars

Day 3: Pryaniki

Day 4: Iced Lemon Gingerbread Cakes

Day 5: Peanut Butter & Chocolate Biscotti

Day 6: Gingerbread Fudge

Day 7: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Day 8: Five Spice Snickerdoodles

Day 9: Caramel Eggnog Scones

Day 10: Chai-Glazed Almond Cookies

Day 11: Gingerbread Coffee Cakes

Day 12: Gingerbread Linzer Torte

Gingerbread Linzer Torte

Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup packed dark-brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup unsulfured molasses
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or emulsion
1 ¼ cups berry jam; I used my favorite cranberry sauce recipe here, but feel free to use your favorite/best-quality store-bought jam of choice.

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees with rack in lowest position. Grease a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan* and place this on a baking tray.

*If you do not have a tart pan, I do think that this would also work in a 9-inch roudn cake pan, you just won’t be able to lift the whole tart out of it. It’ll still taste great though.

Sift flour, baking powder, spices, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Add sugar; mix on medium-low speed until combined.

Add butter; mix until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add molasses, egg yolks and vanilla; mix until dough comes together, about 30 seconds.

Turn onto a floured surface and using floured hands, press two-thirds of the mixture evenly into the prepared pan (including the sides).

Spread with the cranberry sauce or jam evenly over the dough, leaving a 1⁄4-inch border

Refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.

Crumble the remaining dough into large crumbs and scatter evenly over the filling, covering most of the surface. (You may have leftover dough; this is fine, just make extra gingerbread cookies with it)

Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.