Linzer Torte

 
We made Linzer Torte (Smitten Kitchen's recipe, via Maida Heatter) for our Holiday Bakeathon in December. The first time I tasted it, it was so good I almost started crying, which is really saying something after an entire day of tasting sweets! It tasted like everything I love about my grandma's Christmas cutout cookies (warming spices + lemon) plus I also love walnuts and raspberry. I got a quarter of the 9x13 pan and ran out of it on Christmas Eve. I missed it a lot after it was gone.

So what did I do? On New Year's Day, I got up early and made another pan of it, and brought it to our friends' house for their lazy pajamas video game and board game day. :) It is time consuming but worth it, and was every bit as good as the first time. It loses a tiny bit of its perfection after a few days but it is still magical.

VARIATION: I am considering trying it with cherry jam and almonds for a variation next time. Not that the recipe needs to be messed with. I just had the idea as I was falling asleep one night and now I want to taste that too.

• Edit 1/1/2021: I did try this with a mix of sour and black cherry jams and almond. The almonds didn't really taste like much, so I would add ~1 tsp almond extract to the crust part if I made it again. Overall I think I prefer the walnut/raspberry combination, but I'm glad I tried the variation.
  

With certain foods, I almost feel as though my genes compel me to love them that much more. This is one of those things.

RECIPE: Linzer Torte