Cherry “Linzen”Pie

“Linzen” means lentils in Dutch. It’s unclear where the name comes from, however it’s got nothing to do with lentils! The first “Linzen” pie was probably made in Linz, a small village in Austria, but it could also be derived from another Austrian recipe, the “Linzertorte” which means Linz-cake.

This pie has to be made a few days in advance, as the taste needs to develop. The filling has to set in the fridge for about 12 hours, so this recipe needs a little planning!

Ingredients

350 gr flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
175 gr caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
150 gr butter
3 tbsp milk
1 egg

Filling

500 gr cherries
250 ml water or cherry juice
100 gr sugar
30 gr cornstarch
1 tbsp water
Coarse sugar and/or almonds to garnish

Start with the filling!

No, seriously. The filling has to cool down and then be chilled for at least 12 hours.

As I was lazy, I used pitted cherries in a jar. Fresh ones are better, preferably fresh from your own garden, mmm…

But, since I still live in an apartment there is not enough space to keep a cherry tree. Whether or not you use fresh cherries is entirely up to you, the recipe remains the same.

Remove the pits and set the cherries aside. Drain the cherries if you use store bought and keep 250ml of the fluid.

Heat the water or cherry juice with the sugar in a pot or saucepan big enough to fit all the cherries in there too. Add a tablespoon of water or juice to the starch and mix it in with the boiling juice. Simmer for about 3 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the cherries. Let it cool down on the stove then let it chill in the fridge for at least twelve hours.

Dough

Put the flour, baking powder, sugars and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add this to the flour mixture with the egg. Knead this into crumbs, then add the milk to create dough. Knead this into a smooth dough ball and divide it into two balls, about 2/3 and 1/3 of the dough. Let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.

Butter the pan! You can add a circle of wax paper to the pan if you want to be super safe to prevent the crust from sticking, but it’s not really necessary.

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll the biggest ball into a circle big enough to cover the pan. Cover the pan in dough and roll the pin over the pan to remove the excess dough.

Fill the pie shell with the chilled cherries and set aside. Roll out the second ball and cut strips of about 2cm wide. Brush the edge with milk and create a lattice pattern. Brush with milk or egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar/almonds.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Remove the pie from the shell as soon as possible by flipping it onto a plate and then flipping it back on a cooling rack.

The pie tastes delicious, but to give it a really rich flavour it is best to let it rest for 2-3 days.