Black Raspberry Linzer Torte

As a follow-up to the post about the billions of black raspberries we picked in the yard, here is what we did with it:

Black Raspberry Linzer Torte


(ok, so that is not what a perfect "weave-free" lattice looks like. I am normally very good at lattices, but I think because we made the jam filling from scratch instead of using pre-made jam, the filling was a bit soupy and my lattce strips sunk. I'm just going to go with "I meant to do it that way. It's modern art")
Pastry (from Cooks Illustrated)
1 cup unblanched hazelnuts (about 5 ounces)
1/2 cup blanched almonds (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup granulated sugar , plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling (from the Cake Bible)
2 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup + 2 tablespoons water
3 quarts black raspberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

Glaze
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons turbinado sugar , or demerara (optional)

FOR THE PASTRY: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Toast nuts on rimmed baking sheet, stirring once, until lightly browned and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Cool nuts to room temperature. Do not turn off oven.

In food processor, pulse nuts, sugar, and salt until very finely ground, about eighteen 1-second pulses. Add lemon zest; pulse to combine. Add flour, cinnamon, and allspice; pulse to combine. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and pulse until butter lumps are no larger than peppercorns and mixture resembles coarse meal, twelve to fifteen 1-second pulses. In small bowl, use fork to combine egg and vanilla. With machine running, pour in egg mixture through feed tube; process until dough forms large ball, about 10 seconds.

Turn dough out onto work surface; press together to form cohesive mound. Divide dough into 2 pieces, one piece slightly larger than other (larger piece should weigh about 15 ounces, smaller piece about 13 ounces). Flatten each piece into 5-inch disk; if not using immediately, wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 48 hours. (If refrigerated until firm, let dough stand at room temperature until soft and malleable, about 1 hour, before proceeding.)

Cut parchment round to fit 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Spray bottom and sides of tart pan with nonstick cooking spray. Separate bottom from sides of tart pan; line bottom with parchment round and spray parchment with cooking spray. Place smaller dough disk on center of parchment-lined tart pan bottom, place sheet of plastic wrap over disk, and roll out disk until just shy of pan edges. Drop pan bottom into fluted ring and remove plastic wrap. Using hands, press dough into even layer until flush with sides of tart pan. Using dinner fork, poke holes uniformly in dough; set tart pan on baking sheet and bake until beginning to brown around edges, 15 to 18 minutes. Set baking sheet on wire rack and let crust cool to room temperature.

Pinch piece of dough about size of Ping-Pong ball from larger dough disk; roll with hands against work surface to form 3/8-inch-diameter rope. Place rope against side of cool prebaked tart bottom. Repeat with additional dough (you will have some left over for lattice), connecting ends of ropes. When entire inside wall of tart pan has been lined, use finger to gently press rope into flutes of pan, creating walls about 5/8 inch high (walls should not be as high as rim of tart pan). Set tart pan aside on baking sheet.

Reshape remaining dough into disk and roll between two large sheets parchment sprayed lightly with cooking spray into 12-inch round about 1_8 inch thick (if dough becomes too sticky and soft, refrigerate or freeze until firm and workable). Peel off top layer of parchment. Using ruler sprayed lightly with nonstick cooking spray and pizza cutter or chef's knife, neaten edge of dough round, then cut round into 3/4-inch-wide strips (you will need 10 strips). Slide parchment with dough onto baking sheet; cover loosely with parchment. Freeze 20 minutes or refrigerate 40 minutes until firm but not fully stiff.

FOR THE FILLING: Combine sugar and water, bring to boil stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, add 3-4 cups berries, boil 1 more minute. Remove with slotted spoon to colander over bowl to catch syrup. Reduce syrup in pt to 2 cups, repeat the process with more berries. From time to tme, return syrup from drained berries to pot. When all berries are gone, boil syrup down to 2 cups and reserve. Sieve berries to remove seeds, add to syrup and simmer 10 minutes. Stir raspberry preserves and lemon juice together. Spread preserves evenly in tart shell.

TO ASSEMBLE, GLAZE, AND BAKE: Invert dough strips sandwiched between parchment; peel off top layer. Using icing spatula as needed, lift one of longest strips from center of round and lay across center of tart at 1 o'clock/7 o'clock position. Lift second long strip and lay across center of tart at 3 o'clock/9 o'clock position. Lift short strip and lay across tart parallel to first strip, near edge of tart. Working clockwise, repeat positioning of outer strips parallel to central strips; you should now have 6 strips in place. Lift one of remaining strips and lay across tart parallel to and equidistant from central and edge strips. Working clockwise, repeat until lattice is complete with 10 strips. Press excess dough against rim of tart pan to trim.

Gently brush lattice strips with heavy cream and, if using, sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake tart (still on baking sheet) until deep golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cool on baking sheet on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours.

TO SERVE: Remove outer tart pan ring. Slide thin metal spatula between parchment paper and bottom crust to loosen. Slide tart onto serving platter. Cut into wedges and serve.


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