This is a real classic from Switzerland and Austria, where it’s as well-known as a Bakewell Tart is here.

It is a dense short cake, made with ground hazelnuts and cinnamon, and is fantastic taken with tea or coffee.

It is simple to make, but requires some skill with a piping bag. It keeps very well, as the jam used keeps it moist.

We sell ours for £9.50.

Linzer mix

Ingredient g

Butter 600g

Sugar 450g

Raw ground hazelnuts 450g

Egg white 75g

Flour 600g

Cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla to taste

Method

1. Cream together the butter, sugar and hazelnuts. Add the egg white. Fold in the flour.

Linzer Torte

Ingredients

Linzer mix (see above), raspberry jam, apricot jam, water icing

Method

1. Place shallow (2½cm high) 7" cake rings on to a tray with silicon paper.

2. Fill a piping bag with the mix and pipe an even spiral from the centre (image A). Use a nozzle about 10mm wide, roughly a third of the height of the ring.

3. Once complete, pipe a second layer just around the edge of the inside of the ring (B).

4. Fill a piping bag with a bake-stable jam, and pipe an even spiral until it meets the inside edge of the Linzer mix (C). It pays to use a high-quality jam. We use redcurrant and raspberry seedless jam by Carma (available from Town and Country Fine Foods).

5. Using a star shaped nozzle, pipe lines of Linzer mix on to the jam, ending just inside the ring (D).

6. Now pipe further lines of the mix across the surface, so you end up with a lattice effect as shown (E).

TIP: to create a proper lattice, leave enough space so the jam can still be seen clearly through the Linzer mix.

7. Finally, pipe a last ring of mix around the edge at the top (F).

8. Bake until golden. Leave to cool (G) and remove from rings.

9. Glaze with hot apricot jam and leave to cool (H).

10. Glaze with a thin layer of water icing (optional) (I).