Original Ischler Törtchen from Zauner
Christmas Baking

As every year, I have prepared a pre-Christmas recipe for you. Ischler Törtchen are among the classic Christmas cookies in many families in Slovakia (my home country). My mother also used to bake them. As a child, I had no idea that the name “Ischler” comes from the Austrian town of Bad Ischl.

Although Bad Ischl is a small town in the region of the Salzkammergut (Salt demesne), in the past, it became the scene of important decisions related to the person of the Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph. You can read more about it in my article: Bad Ischl

Already in the past, when half of Vienna – following the emperor and his family – moved to Bad Ischl in the summer and other European monarchs came here at the emperor´s invitation, Johann Zauner was a guarantee for high quality.

The trained confectioner first traded in wine. Dr. Franz Wirer, the founder of salt cures in the town, knew that aristocratic guests also needed a classy spot, so he invited Zauner to Bad Ischl, who, in 1832, opened a café for a wealthy clientele on the ground floor of one of Wirer´s properties. However, he soon bought the entire building from Wirer.

Today, the company is run by Josef Zauner, who learned from Zauner and was adopted by Hildegard Zauner who had no children of her own. As a former court supplier, Zauner maintains the tradition and preserves the old recipes, which have already been published in two books. In one of them, you will find a recipe for Ischler Törtchen which was invented here by Richard Kurth in the 1950s. In 1959, the company took part in the Confectionery Olympiad in London with this product and won a gold medal for the best dessert in the world.

I thank Mr. Josef Zauner for permitting me to publish his photos and the original recipe.

Original Ischler Törtchen

We will prepare the creams one day in advance:

Vanilla Cream

We need (for 700 g of cream):

0.5 l of milk

2 egg yolks

60 g of butter

50 g of vanilla pudding powder

Method:

Boil two thirds of milk with sugar. Mix the remaining milk with egg yolks and pudding powder. Add to hot milk and stir until cream is formed. Cover the hot cream with food foil so that skin does not form. Put it in the fridge overnight.

Parisian Cream:

We need (for 670 g of cream):

1/4 l of whipped cream

125 g of sugar

75 g of butter

225 g of dark chocolate

Preparation:

Let the whipped cream, sugar and butter boil in a small saucepan. Chop the chocolate into smaller pieces and melt it in the hot whipped cream, stirring occasionally. Cover with foil and put in the fridge overnight.

The next day, we continue with the preparation of the cookies.

We need (for approx. 25 pcs):

250 g of vanilla cream

500 g of Parisian cream

For 600 g of dough:

100 g of powdered sugar

200 g of butter

1 yolk

300 g of flour

a pinch of salt

pulp from 1/2 vanilla pod

a little lemon zest

For the topping:

apricot jam

500 g fondant (white sugar mass similar to marzipan)

a little sugar-water mixture in a ratio of 1:1

100 g of dark chocolate

chopped pistachios for garnish

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients, make the dough and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then roll out the dough to a thickness of 3-4 mm, cut out circles with a diameter of about 7 cm, place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake in an oven heated to 190°C for about 12 minutes. Whip the vanilla cream. First, lightly warm the Parisian cream in a water bath and whip it as well. Mix both creams and, using a decorating bag, apply the filling to half of the baked and cooled circles. Cover them with the remaining half and put them in the refrigerator. Spread a thin layer of apricot jam on the surface of the hardened cakes. Heat the fondant in a pot to approx. 45°C, dilute it with a little bit of water-sugar mixture. Melt the dark chocolate and mix it with the fondant, which will turn brown. Dip the cakes in this mixture and decorate them with pistachios.

I wish you relaxed baking and a wonderful Christmas Holiday!

Text: © Copyright Ingrid, Travelpotpourri + Zauner
Fotos: © Copyright Ingrid, Travelpotpourri + Zauner, Apolt