Linzer Torte- Keeping the tradition of the Holidays

For the first time in many years I was asked to make a Linzer Torte for the holidays! Naturally I made sure that I still knew what I was doing before making one for others. Since it's been so long I no longer had a good recipe for one so I consoled the internet to get myself caught back up.

A little history on Linzer Tortes: Named after the city of Linz, Austria it's a holiday classic in Austria, Hungary, Sweden, and Germany and mainly seen on the dinner tables at Christmas time. Linzer tortes can be made in many sizes and shapes from cookies, tarts and tortes. I chose the torte for my experiment to make sure the baking times worked for the oven.

After researching loads of recipes on Pinterest and various other sites I managed to see the trends and the necessary measurements and ingredients to make an epic torte!







RECIPE

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
Recipe for a 10" torte pan

3/4 cup Sugar
Zest of 1 Lemon
Zest of 1 Orange
3/4 cup Margarine
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/3 cups Flour
1/4 cup Ground Hazelnuts
1/3 cup Ground Almonds
1 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt

1 cup Raspberry Jam

I had some fun with my food processor and grounded my own nuts... It was loud but it was fun! Also treated myself to some new Wilton Torte pans.. So beautiful so untainted!

 


The crust- although has a lot of ingredients is very easy to make and much more fun to work with as opposed to it's cousin... The pie crust. Everything in it gives the torte it's unique texture and flavor. Nothing can be missed. It has a very distinct look on top with the lattice pipe work on top.

1. Mix the sugar and zest lightly and let sit for a minute to let the flavors settle in. Once settled cream with margarine.
2. Add in the eggs and vanilla, mix until just blended.
3. Add in flour, nuts, spices, baking powder and salt all together and divide the mixture in half- one half being larger then the other. Put the large half into the fridge for 10-15 minutes to set and scoop the small into a piping bag.
4. Time to prepare the torte pan and preheat the oven! Press the refrigerated mixture into the base of the pan. Set it in the fridge for a final 10-15 minutes.
5. Spread raspberry jam onto the base of the torte and pipe your choice of design over top of the jam. Don't be afraid to show your personality!
6. Pop that bad boy into the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the jam is bubbly and the edges are a beautiful golden brown.

The first attempt was a complete success! Full of taste and wonder, I don't intend to go another 6 years without making one of these (especially with my pretty new pans) and I want to experiment with the other filling options I've seen around as well. This is my kind of dessert because it's not too sweet and has a ton of texture and flavor!

Bottoms up!

Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cupcakes

Christmas Baking anyone?
I love to make cupcakes or some sort of baking item for people who don't quite make the christmas present list!

This year I took my awesome chocolate cake recipe teamed up with the best Chocolates on the market! Ferrero Rocher!

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 3/4 cup All-purpose Flour

2 cups Sugar

3/4 cup Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 cup Milk

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

2 Eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup Boiling Water

• Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.
• Combine the Milk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the milk mixture into the bowl. Mix Well.
• Add the boiling water and gently fold into the batter.
• Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for 22 minutes. 9" cake for 35-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Enjoy!

Now the fun part... Adding the goodies!!

Since these chocolates can be a little expensive I cut them in half. I baked half in the cupcake and places the other half on top.

The Finished Product!

An Animal

Day 14! At last! And this is an easy one! A picture of an animal!

No one should be surprised by my choice! I take any excuse to show off pictures of Princess Peach!! <3 I am very grateful that my little kitty has no interest in my christmas tree at all. She watches it from her perch but I have no fears of her climbing it or knocking it down while I'm at work.
She's gained a bit of weight this winter and I think that may be a contributing factor to her good behaviour, I'm sure that weight won't last when the weather starts to warm up!

Candy Land Christmas!

So I am not a traditional girl at all... So my tree doesn't have the classic red and green look to it. It's all about candy land!

It still needs a few more lights, I'll be swooping a few more sets up at Target after Christmas. Also need a few more inches of silver decorating ribbon!

Next years tree is going to be perfect!

10 Facts about Christmas

So attempting to put personalized messages in all my Christmas cards to extended family came out very dry... So I decided they may appreciate some fun facts about Christmas! Here were my 10 favourites!

1) In ancient times, mistletoe was considered sacred because it remains green and bears fruit during the winter.

2) Christmas Shopping accounts for 17% of all retail sales in America.

3) Evergreen trees have been symbols of eternal life and rebirth since ancient times.

4) Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones since 1991.

5) Contrary to popular belief, the poinsettia is not poisonous!... However holly berries are!

6) The first Christmas was celebrated on December 25th AD 336 in Rome.

7) The traditional Christmas eve meal in Armenia is fried fish, lettuce and spinach.

8) The traditional Christmas eve meal in Japan is fried chicken and strawberry shortcake... Yum

9) Nova Scotia leads the world in exporting lobster, wild blueberries and Christmas trees.

Awe yeah Atlantic pride!!

10) The song Silver Bells was originally called Tinkle Bells... Hehe wonder why it didn't catch on.

Homemade Christmas

Decided to give this Christmas a little personal touch with handmade card! Each one will have a personal message of love and holiday cheer!