Linzer Spritz Cookies Recipe

TO: ALL

I realize this is a little late for this season, but Chocolatier
magazine had several Spritz variations which I just typed up this
week. I made these Linzer ones (but in the traditional “wreath”
shape). They were fantastic! YIELD: Approximately 35 cookies
PREPARATION: 1 1/2 hours plus baking, chilling and cooling times
Cookie dough: 3/4 cup roasted hazelnuts, (see Note) 2 1/4 cups
all-purpose flour, divided 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup
confectioners’ sugar 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon
ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2
sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 large
egg, chilled 4 teaspoons vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon finely grated
orange zest 3/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest Assembly: 3
tablespoons seedless raspberry preserves 6 ounces Swiss dark
chocolate, coarsely chopped Note: Position a rack in the center of
the oven and preheat to 350~F. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer
on a baking sheet and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, shaking the pan two
or three times, until the nuts are golden beneath their skins. Wrap
the nuts in a clean towel and cool completely Transfer the nuts to a
large sieve and rub the nuts back and forth to remove the loose
skins. Make the cookie dough: 1. Position a rack in the center of the
oven and preheat to 375~F. Put three heavy, large ungreased baking
sheets in the refrigerator. 2. In a food processor fitted with the
metal chopping blade process the hazelnuts with 1 cup of the flour
for 30 to 45 seconds, or until the mixture is ground to a fine
powder. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour, granulated sugar,
confectioners’ sugar cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Process for
10 to 15 seconds, or until the mixture is blended. 3. Evenly
distribute the butter cubes in a circle around the chopping blade.
Add the egg, vanilla, orange and lemon zests. Process for 45 to 60
seconds, or until the mixture is creamy. (Make sure that the butter
is completely blended into the batter) 4. Fill a pastry bag fitted
with a closed star tip (such as Ateco #4) with one-third of the
cookie dough. (Slightly pry open the teeth on the end of the pastry
tip so that any small nut particles do not get caught between the
points as you pipe.) 5. Remove a chilled baking sheet from the
refrigerator. Starting at the left-hand side of the midsection of a
chilled baking sheet, pipe 1 3/4-inch long “S” shapes about 2 inches
apart across the center of the baking sheet. (This will enable you to
pipe straight and even lines across the baking sheet.) Continue
piping until the bottom half of the baking sheet is covered with
piped cookies. Turn the baking sheet 180 degrees and continue piping
S’s onto the other half of the baking sheet. 6. Refrigerate the
baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the piped cookie dough is
firm. Pipe the rest of the cookie dough onto the remaining chilled
baking sheets and refrigerate. 7. Bake the cookies one baking sheet
at a time for 12 to 15 minutes, or until slightly browned. Turn the
baking sheet halfway through baking for even browning. Using a metal
pancake spatula, immediately transfer the cookies to wire rack to
cool. Assemble the cookies: 8. Melt the dark chocolate according to
the melting instructions in the Chocolate Key OR temper the chocolate
following the tempering instructions on page 72. Scrape the chocolate
mixture into a small heatproof bowl. Place the bowl of chocolate over
a smaller bowl of warm (86~F to 90~F) water 9. Using a small, metal
cake spatula, coat the flat side of half of the cookies with a thin
layer of melted or tempered chocolate. Place the chocolate-coated
cookie halves onto a waxed paper-fined baking sheet and refrigerate
for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the chocolate is set. (Continued to
next message) ++- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.11 * Origin: The Magic Dominion
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