This gluten free linzer tart uses a nut based crust, a raspberry jam filling, and is one of the best things you’ll ever make – gluten free or not.
For those you who celebrate, I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend of Passover (or Easter).
We’re about halfway through Passover today, which probably means that you’re finishing up the leftovers of the desserts you made for Seder. Seder dinners are always big feasts, with lots of food, but the remaining 6 nights tend to turn into a mishmash of unplanned things thrown together at the last minute.
Why not make the last night equally special and make this gluten free linzer tart for dessert on Friday night? But make no mistake – this isn’t just for Passover.
This is year-round worthy. Birthday? Yes. Thanksgiving? Yes, yes (feel free to use cornstarch instead of potato starch). Anytime you need a gluten free dessert? Yes, yes, yes!
Last week, I shared a flourless chocolate ganache cake that I made for Friday night’s Seder with our neighbors. When it came time to plan out the desserts for Saturday’s family Seder, I couldn’t resist going back to my personal wheelhouse when it comes to desserts – fruit based.
I have a very tiny target audience when it comes to others who like fruit: basically, my father. My husband and his entire family are all about chocolate or cheesecakes. His friends always want something that combines chocolate with peanut butter or oreos. My coworkers are the biggest bunch of chocoholics I’ve encountered.
So when my father comes to town, I can’t resist making something that I know we’ll both enjoy.
This year, it was a gluten free linzer tart: a perfectly crunchy crust, made from a combination of ground almonds, walnuts, and hazelnuts, spread with a thick layer of raspberry jam. I’ve never attempted a crust based so heavily on nuts and wasn’t sure how it would work out. The dough was surprisingly easy to work with, baked up beautifully, and cut cleaner than many flour-filled pie and tart dough recipes I’ve used in the past.
And most importantly, the finished tart is delicious. I’d never expect something I made specifically for Passover to wind up as one of my favorite things I’ve made, but it really is that good. I definitely won’t be waiting until next Passover to make this again!
It’s a little more work than some other desserts. It’s not quite the same one bowl, one whisk ease as the chocolate ganache cake. But let me assure you, it’s well worth the effort.
The dough is a little fragile, but I found that I could patch it together easily if it started to tear. I made mine with butter, but if you’re serving meat for your Passover dinner, use margarine instead.
I also ground my own nuts for this – you can use any combination of nuts, totaling 3 cups after grinding. The best way to achieve the right texture is with lots of very brief pulses with small batches of nuts. I made three separate batches in my food processor, and each took maybe 100 half-second pulses. It’s better to err on the side of not-quite-fine-enough than going too far into the nut butter stage!
This gluten-free linzer tart uses a nut based crust, a raspberry jam filling, and is one of the best things you’ll ever make.
Recipe adapted from The New Passover Menu*
*Amazon Affiliate Link