Recipe - Linzer Torte

LINZER DOUGH
1 One half cup Allpurpose flour
1 cup Ground, blanched almonds
Three fourths cup Sugar
One fourth teaspoon Ground cloves
1 teaspoon Baking powder
Three fourths cup Butter
1 teaspoon Grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 Egg
1 Egg yolk

FILLING
1/3 cup Raspberry preserves
2 Baskets fresh raspberries
1/3 cup Toasted, cut or sliced up almonds
Confectioners' sugar

VARIATION

CHEESE LINZER TORTE

CHEESE FILLING
1 pound Cream cheese
room temperature
One fourth cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Grated lemon zest
2 Eggs
2 Egg yolks
One half cup Cream

FOR THE LINZER DOUGH: Preheat oven to 350F with rack in center. Mix all the
dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub in butter finely by hand. Whisk lemon zest
and vanilla with egg and yolk and stir into dough with a forkthe dough
will be very soft. Butter a 12inch tart pan with removable bottom. Spread
dough evenly in the pan, spreading it thicker at the edge to form the side
wall of the tart shell. For raspberry version, bake about 25 minutes, until
well risen and firm. Cool in pan on a rack. RASPBERRY FILLING: Spread the
preserves in the tart shell and arrange the raspberries on the preserves.
Edge with the almonds and dust lightly with the confectioners' sugar.
CHEESE VARIATION: Do not bake shell. Beat cream cheese with a hand mixer
set at medium speed or with a heavyduty mixer fitted with the paddle. Beat
in sugar and continue beating until smooth, adding remaining ingredients in
order, scraping bowl and beater(s) often. Pour into unbaked Linzer shell,
above. Bake about 30 minutes. Cool and finish with jam and raspberries, if
desired, or leave plain.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini