This is a several centuries old Hungarian recipe and contrary to popular belief didn’t originate in Austria. Went by different names in the past; my very old Hungarian cook book lists it as “Vajas Tészta Rostélyozva”. It is sometimes called rácsos linzer, which is a misnomer, because it’s not really a linzer. Linzer was invented later by the Ruszwurm’s owner in Budapest in honour of General Linzer. But back to the original lattice bar recipe, there are endless variations, the best known lattice bar is made with apricot jam. Here I added a layer of ground walnuts over the jam. I baked my lattice bars in a square pan, but if you want to use a rectangular pan, you will have to double the recipe.
2 cups flour
pinch of baking soda
1/2 cup + 1 tsp butter
1/2 cup + 1/8 cup sugar
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp sour cream
3/4 cup jam, I used apricot
1/2 cup ground walnuts [optional]
pinch of baking soda
1/2 cup + 1 tsp butter
1/2 cup + 1/8 cup sugar
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp sour cream
3/4 cup jam, I used apricot
1/2 cup ground walnuts [optional]
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• In a large mixing bowl rub together the flour and the cold butter until it becomes a homogenous crumble.
• Add the sugar, grated lemon rind, egg yolks and the sour cream and kneed it into smooth dough.
• Now cut the dough into two equal parts.
• [If you are making a jam lattice bar, use 2/3 of the dough for the base and 1/3 for the lattice. Without the ground walnuts you will need a slightly thicker base, besides the thinner lattice will be prettier with more of the jam showing through. But adding walnuts alters things a bit and for that dividing the dough in equal parts is perfectly fine.]
• Roll out the base and lay it in a square parchment lined baking pan.
• Let the dough come up a little way around the sides. This will contain the jam.
• Spread the jam to the edge and sprinkle with the ground walnuts if using.
• Cut the remaining dough in half, and on a lightly floured surface roll them out with floured hands to two 1/2 inch ropes.
• Cut one of the ropes up into pieces to suit the size of the pan.
• Divide the ropes diagonally over the filling.
• Repeat with the second rope to make a lattice top.
• Brush the top lightly with some of the leftover egg white and place the pan in the preheated oven.
• Bake until the filling is hot and the crust is lightly browned.
• Let the bars cool slightly before cutting.
• For exact squares let the bars cool completely before slicing.
