Linzer Torte

Having previously stereotyped Bavarians, the Edeka grocery store's regional Sunday advertising supplement now lays claim to one of the oldest cake recipes in Europe: Linzer Torte. We had assumed the torte originated in Linz, Austria, what with the name and all. The Linz tourism website agrees and provides a brief history of the torte, along with a recipe. But the Edeka flyer declares the torte "Ein Gedicht aus der Region" ("A Poem from the Region") and suggests the region is Baden: "It is reputed to be the oldest known torte in the world and is a Badisch pleasure-highlight--the fine Linzer Torte."

Origins aside, I saved the recipe, as my attempts to realize favorite American desserts in Germany have been falling flat, literally. I assume this has to do with differences in available ingredients. Consider:

Baking powder: The key ingredients in baking powder are baking soda (a base), an acidifying agent, and a starch. Differences in acidifying agents make German Backpulver single-acting and American baking powder double-acting. Backpulver produces bubbles when it meets liquids; American baking powder produces bubbles when it meets liquids and also when it meets the heat of the oven.

Baking soda: In Germany, sodium bicarbonate is called "household soda" and you use it to counter acid in rhubarb, to soften water, to drink as an antacid, and to clean surfaces. If you put it in a banana cake, your guests will try not to look too horrified when they sputter, "really? You really put Natron in the cake we're eating? The cake we're eating right now?"

Butter: German butter comes in 250g packages. It has a higher fat content than American butter (about 83%, versus 80%), which makes it quite soft even when cold. It's often made from cultured sour cream, which contributes a nice flavor. It's lecker (really yummy).

Brown sugar: According to de.wikipedia.org, Brauner Zucker "is the collective name for sugars that are brown in color." The bag we have says it is "made from select sugar beet and cane sugar syrups, which give it its vigorous aromatic flavor." It doesn't pack, and frankly, it doesn't taste all that vigorous. In the U.S., brown sugar is typically quality-controlled by cheating--by adding molasses to refined white sugar. It packs, and its moisture content differs from that of German brown sugar.

Vanilla: Vanilla extract is liquid in the U.S., made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol. In Germany, you use Vanillezucker--dry white sugar with vanillin mixed in.

In addition to differences in ingredients, there are also differences in how those ingredients are measured. Americans measure by standardized volume: cups, tablespoons, teaspoons. A cup is a cup is a cup, regardless of what fills it. Germans measure ingredients by weight, volume, and guesstimates: grams, liters, teaspoons, and Messerspitze (knife tips). The volume of 200g of nuts differs from the volume of 200g sugar, so you need either a kitchen scale or a special measuring cup that has different marks for different ingredients.

I have made several banana cakes this fall, and they've all turned out like buttery banana pound cakes--tasty, but not up to Joy of Cooking standards. I did succeed in making cornbread out of polenta meal, but only because I added a ton of Backpulver and threw the pan into the oven right away.

So when the Linzer Torte recipe showed up in the Edeka flyer, I decided "when in Baden, do as the Badisch do." I couldn't find a pastry wheel or a proper baking form, so my Linzer Torte wasn't as pretty as the one in the photo accompanying the recipe, but it tasted mighty fine regardless.

If you'd like to make your own authentic Badisches Genuss-Highlight direct from Linz, Austria, here's the recipe:

50g ground walnuts (walnuts make my tongue hurt; I used almonds.)
200g ground hazelnuts
200g flour
1 heaping teaspoon cocoa powder (heck--I used a whole tablespoon.)
200g butter
150g raw cane sugar (I used Brauner Zucker.)
1 packet bourbon-vanilla sugar ("bourbon" meaning real vanilla, not that imitation stuff. Use 1 tablespoon liquid extract.)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 knifetip allspice (I didn't have any around and the torte was fine without it.)
1 knifetip ground cloves (all I could find in the pantry was "ground mace nut," which I presumed was nutmeg, so I used that instead.)
1 teaspoon single-acting baking powder (I guess I'd reduce the amount if I were using double-acting powder. Linzer Torte isn't supposed to be fluffy.)
2 eggs
1 eggwhite
4 tablespoons Kirschwasser (I honestly don't think this does much for the torte, as the spices, nuts, and raspberry jam dominate the flavor. Maybe you're really supposed to drink the Kirsch instead of mixing it in.)

200g raspberry jam
1 egg yolk + 1 teaspoon cream, for brushing on before baking (Stefan accidentally threw out the egg yolk, so we skipped this part altogether)
1 teaspoon powdered sugar for sprinkling (feh, skipped that too)

Baking form (~26 cm)
Baking paper (feh, reduce waste and just butter the pan)

To abbreviate the details: mix the dry ingredients together, cut in the butter, add the wet ingredients up to and including the Kirschwasser, smush it all together with your hands, and stick it into the fridge for at least an hour to chill. Divide the dough in half. If you want to be elegant and you can find a rolling pin in your rented kitchen, roll out two rounds; put one into the baking form, and use a pastry wheel to cut the other one into strips. (Can't find your pastry wheel? Have you checked your pottery toolbox? Maybe run the wheel through the dishwasher before you use it for the torte.) Or just press half the dough into the pan and use the coil method for the strips. Slather the bottom crust with the jam (a little extra never hurts), arrange the dough strips artfully on top, glaze if you really want to put in the effort, and bake ~25 minutes at 175 oC. If you're going to sprinkle it with powdered sugar, you need to let it cool first; otherwise, you can start sampling it while it's still warm.