This wonderful recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour and evokes Christmas memories for me because it started with a Linzer cookie dough my daughter made which she gave to me, and I then used to make this pretty Christmas dessert.
Christmas Linzer Tart
12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (99g) sugar
fresh grated rind of 1 lemon
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups (160g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup (72g) almond meal flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
12 oz. of high-quality raspberry preserves: Choose one with more fruit in the ingredients
A 9″ straight-sided metal tart pan or shallow ceramic tart dish roughly 1″ deep (I use a Spode Christmas baking dish which is pretty for serving)
Small decorative cookie cutters: I use ones that are no larger than 1 and 1/2 inches in diameter in flower or heart shapes
Confectioners’ sugar or glazing sugar, for dusting
Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy then thoroughly blend in grated lemon rind, egg yolk, and vanilla. In a separate bowl stir flour, almond meal, and salt together. On low speed, mix dry and wet ingredients until they come together. Do not over beat.
Divide dough into two pieces, one of 2/3 of dough and one of 1/3 of dough. Place each piece between two pieces of plastic wrap and flatten into a disk. Thoroughly chill dough in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. If desired, you can make the dough ahead and refrigerate up to three days well-wrapped before continuing.
Roll out the larger piece of dough between sheets of plastic wrap into a roughly 10″ round, 1/4 inch thick, uncover one side and flip it into the tart pan; remove wrap. Press dough gently into the bottom and up the sides of the pan to create a vertical rim of crust that reaches up to but not over the top edge of the pan.
Spread a generous amount of preserves over the crust. Filling should be at least 1/4″ deep but remain at least 1/4″ below the top of the side crust. Place tart in the refrigerator while you make decorative cutouts.
Roll out remaining disc of dough to 1/4 thickness and cut out small cookies in the decorative shape of your choice. If the dough gets sticky chill again or dust with a bit of almond flour. Arrange the cutouts in a pretty design on top of the preserves in the tart. For example, concentric rings of flower shapes with a single flower in the center. The cut-outs will puff when baked so don’t crowd them – you want a decorative pattern of golden cookie with red jam showing below after baking. Work quickly; the dough gets soft fast at room temp and chill as needed to work your design cleanly.
Chill the finished tart for at least 30 minutes before baking and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake the tart for roughly 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until the crust is a golden brown. Cool completely. If you are using a tart pan with a bottom that pops out from the sides, pop it out leaving the bottom support. If you use a pretty ceramic tart dish, leave it in the dish. Sift a dusting of powdered sugar over the top and serve. This keeps beautifully for several days.
McMahon writes from Cape May.
