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Linzer Torte

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Spiced Plum Linzer Torte

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Vegan Linzer Torte

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Making a Cake From 1653: the Oldest Cake Recipe In the World (Allegedly)

...Well, sort of. A couple of days ago, I felt like baking a cake, so I did. However, when I was looking over my handwritten recipe, which I hadn't made in a long time, I noticed that a small detail (how long to chill the dough in the fridge) was missing (kind of to be expected since the recipe is a heirloom from a time when there weren't fridges). Confident the internet might have an answer, I took to Google- and received more answers than I initially intended to get.

It appears that the first known recipe for Linzer Torte may just be the oldest known cake recipe in the world, according to the Austrian abbey of Admont, where the 1653 cookbook of an Italian noblewoman containing the first known recipe for this delicious jam-filled cake is being kept. I am sceptical of the claim that there is no older known (complete and bake-able) cake recipe out there, but it certainly makes for a good story- and who wouldn't want to feast as splendourously as baroque nobility anyway?

Indeed, the ingredients must have been fit for the proverbial king back in the 1650s: the taste of the dough is characterised by ground almonds, cinnamon and cloves. The filling, redcurrant jam, comes from less far away, though, and is more local to the eponymous Austrian town of Linz than almonds and spices.

Speaking of the name, the German Linzer Torte is in fact somewhat of a misnomer: it should technically be called 'Linzer Kuchen'. In German, the baking process determines if a cake is a Torte or a Kuchen: A Torte is a cake where the filling is added after baking (think of traditional wedding cakes or Black Forest cake), a Kuchen has its filling, if there is any, added pre-baking. ...And to make matters even more confusing, Linzer Torte is probably more closely related to pies than cakes.

But enough of the linguistic pedantry, and on to the culinary pedantry surrounding this divine cake (let's be diplomatic and stick to the less contentious English term): I'll link a modern recipe for anyone who's gotten curious now (there are also many vegan recipes, but sadly I couldn't find one in English).

These days, there are recipes in abundance, as Linzer Torte is a staple on Austrian and South-West German Sunday afternoon coffee tables and over the last almost four centuries, folks have developed their own variants according to taste and region.

For instance, I am quite puzzled by the amount of cinnamon the referenced recipe wants you to use; of course you could put "lots" in there, but why would you? The cinnamon should only complement the almonds and cloves, not neutralise them- for an amount of 250g/ 9 oz of flour, a hearty teaspoon full is more than enough. Also, the wafers are entirely optional and not in any of the really old recipes. I'd also advise against using ground hazelnuts instead of almonds, if you want to have the genuine Linzer Torte-experience. Hazelnuts were only introduced later as a cheaper and more readily available alternative to almonds. While definitively an option, the cake will taste differently than intended in 1653. ...And you wouldn't want to bake a historically inaccurate cake now, would you (just kidding!)?

As you see, there is no wrong or right way, though of course everyone will tell you that their grandma's recipe is the One Recipe to Rule them All (which is absolute nonsense, because MY great-grandmother's is the only correct recipe, duh.). So, go off, be happy and bake yourself a cake to make you feel like a baroque noble! :-)

Here's one last tip: don't eat your Linzer Torte right away. One of the many reasons why it is so popular is because it keeps for ages if covered and put somewhere dry and moderately cool, making it a handy little recipe to prepare in advance for a special occasion or to just have a bit of cake in the house for unexpected visitors. In fact, letting it sit for a couple of days improves the taste even more as the flavours intensify over time.

Happy baking (and eating, of course)!