In a bowl, sift together flour & salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar & vanilla until light & fluffy. Beat in as much flour mixture as possible. Mix in the rest & gently knead till dough comes together. Form into a disk & wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Cranberries
In a saucepan, combine whole berry sauce, raspberries, sugar, orange zest & cinnamon. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the sauce thickens & is bubbly. Remove from heat & allow to cool. The sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.
Persimmons
Place the melted butter in a large bowl & stir in the honey & spices. Stir well, then add persimmon slices. Toss to coat each slice well.
Cheesecake Filling
Using a mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth then add sugar & blend well. Add eggs & vanilla, beat until smooth.
Baking
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Between 2 sheets of parchment paper, roll out 2/3 of pastry into a 10-inch circle. Place in an 8-inch springform pan. From the remaining 1/3 of the pastry cut a 5-inch circle. In the center of this circle cut a 3-inch circle (this should resemble a Linzer cookie). If you wish you can cut out a few ‘stars’ for decorations. Lay pastry ring & stars on parchment paper & place on a baking sheet. Blind bake pastry in the springform pan for 8 minutes or until barely set. Bake the ring & stars until golden.
Remove springform pan from oven & pour cream cheese mixture over warm crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is lightly golden & cheesecake tests done. Set aside to cool.
Assembly
When cheesecake has cooled, place the slices of persimmon, overlapping each other to form 2 circles around the outer edge. Spoon spiced cranberries in the middle of the persimmons.
Sprinkle baked pastry ring & stars with powdered sugar & place on top of cranberries. Press down slightly. Your torte should resemble a large Linzer cookie when finished.
Recipe Notes
You will have extra cranberry sauce which can be easily used over the holiday season I found. Brion & I liked them so much we added extra to our slices of torte.