Forget the Sacher Torte! This is, imho, the best desert made in Austria. My friends and I were just finishing lunch at a heuriger in Grunzig when we saw enormous platters of this being served to another table. We had to find out what it was and order it ourselves. It may well have been the culinary highlight of our trip (that, and the one perfectly-prepared Wienerschnitzel, something that is not often done right, even in Austria). Spear a piece of the hot pancake, dip it into the plum compote and, yes, that is a smile on your face!
This is a deliciously moist and dense bread, full of nuts and fruit, that keeps very well. Kletzenbrot is traditionally baked on St. Thomas Day (December 21). Then it is wrapped and stored in the fridge until Christmas Eve. The story goes, if you cut into the bread before Christmas, you will grow donkey’s ears! ‘Kletzen’ are sweet, dried pears. Cooking time includes a one and a half hour rising time for the bread.
On a recent trip to Austria, we enjoyed several soup containing these unique noodles. Yield is estimated in pancakes, but these will be sliced into noodle strips.
This is my Vienna bread recipe that is the standard request at potlucks, dinners and my kids favorite (they’d eat this over store bought any day). I do use my bread machine to do the dirty work–but I love the smell of the bread baking from my oven..so I prefer to bake it there. I especially like to make toast with lots of butter the next day (if there is any left). The taste is really good and goes well with any meal.
Linzer Torte is a holiday classic in the Austrian, Hungarian, Swiss, German and Tyrolean traditions, often prepared for Christmas. The recipe for this rich dessert has been known since the late 1600s and is thought to have originated in Linz, Austria. A copy from 1696 can be found at the Vienna Stadt-und Landesbibliothek. In the 1850s, an Austrian traveler by the name of Franz Hoelzlhuber allegedly brought the Linzer Torte to Milwaukee, from where the recipe spread over the United States. PS Let common sense be your guide when turning on the oven to pre-heat.
