Linzer Torte

This fantastic dessert, named after the city of Linz, originates in Austria. It's one of the oldest cakes in the world, dating back to 1653. The pastry is a very short, crumbly dough made of sugar, flour, ground blanched almonds, eggs, butter and spices/flavorings. It's typically spread with a thin filling of preserves (traditionally current, but often raspberry or apricot) and then covered with a lattice top using the pastry dough. Because of the leavening agent (baking soda) in the dough, the crust rises in the oven and puffs up to cover the filling. This dessert is seriously all about the crust! If you remember from previous posts, the fact that the pastry is a short dough means that there is a lot of butter. The butter keeps the dough from toughening after the flour is combined with the liquid.

Snickerd-ooh-dles!

I really wanted to sandwich something today, and I promised I would figure out a way to use up some of the many egg yolks I had hanging out in my fridge.

When I was a kid, my mom would use extra egg yolks to make us a Polish treat called Kogel Mogel. It's basically egg yolks mixed with sugar and sometimes rum *I think*. Hmm...not many people would think of feeding their children a highly-sugared, alcohol-spiked treat made out of raw eggs! But we loved it!

That is NOT what I am going to do with my extra yolks! I'll start with a batch of custard-based ice cream ("French style"), flavor = cinnamon. It's starting to become a little fall-ish outside, which makes me think of cinnamon. But, it's still warm enough to enjoy an ice cream sandwich.

The cookies I decided to make are a variation on a classic sugar cookie recipe that uses yolks only. The recipe is all over the web, called Egg Yolk Cookies. But, that name just sounds unappetizing to me, so I am going to call them resourceful Sugar Cookies!

When both components are done, what we'll have is a Sugar Almond Cookie with cinnamon ice cream sandwich. Sounds yummy, doesn't it?

Ok, let's get started.