Isler is the chocolate covered jam-filled version of two linzer cookies that used to be popular in pastry shops throughout Budapest. Hungarian isler is a large cookie, sometimes the top and sometimes only half of the top is dipped into chocolate. The fully covered islers were generally not as good, because a cheaper chocolate or cocoa based glaze was used to cover them. I glazed my islers with real chocolate and I thought surely it would have been too rich to cover the entire cookie with it.
The old Hauer on Rákóczi út was a favourite coffee house
Take a look at the islers on the bottom, only the tops are chocolate glazed
ISLER
2 cups flour
1 cup almond meal
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup butter
4 squares of bittersweet chocolate, chopped
jam [I used apricot]
• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine ingredients, roll into two disks and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
• Roll out on a lightly floured surface and cut rounds.
• Slide onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until just barely golden.
• Transform to racks to cool.
• Transform to racks to cool.
• Pick a microwave safe bowl that can accommodate the cookies.
• Place the chopped chocolate in the bowl and melt it at 10 second intervals, stirring in between. Do not melt the chocolate fully. You just want to soften it a little.
• Remove from the microwave and stir smooth.
• Dip the top of half of the cookies into the melted chocolate.
• Spread the other half of the cookies with jam.
• When the chocolate hardens, press the two sides together.
• Islers keep well at room temperature.
