Soft, melting, buttery, delicious.....so many good adjectives describe Viennese Whirls.
Viennese Whirls are one of those treats that I can literally inhale. A box of Mr Kipling won't last more than an hour in my house. Home baked are even better as they fill your house will sweet smelling yumminess as they bake.
I made my Viennese into Easter Biscuits, but that's just because I'm making these in February, wishing spring would come soon. But you can make these as whirls or fingers. Viennese Fingers are lovely dipped in chocolate - just saying!
How to make a good Viennese
The key to a good Viennese Whirl is the consistency. Not too runny and not too stiff. They have to be runny enough to pipe, but stiff enough to hold their shape when they bake. I'd say the main trick for this is having your butter a good consistency. You want it soft enough to cream with the sugar, but not too runny. I would say a good spreading consistency. Imagine you're going to spread it on a slice of toast - about that!
You also need to cream the butter and sugar really well. You want them to be smooth, light and fluffy before adding the egg yolk.
When you add the flour it needs to be hand mixed. In order for the Viennese Biscuits to be as short and crumbly as possibly, you don't want any suggestion that the gluten in the flour has been overworked. If you mix with an electric mixer it's very easy to over mix it. Hand mixing is much more forgiving and less likely to start developing the gluten.
I piped these Viennese mixture using a star nozzle into Easter biscuits. I did a rose to make a basket/nest type shape by starting in the centre and swirling the mix to the outside - see the video in the recipe card. Classic Viennese Whirls are made by piping from the outside in, and Viennese Fingers are made by piping in straight or squiggly lines.
I decorated mine by piping lemon buttercream through a grass tip nozzle to emphasise the Easter nest effect and finished with Cadbury's Mini eggs. Classic Viennese Whirls are usually sandwiched together with jam and vanilla buttercream in the centre. Viennese Fingers can also be sandwiched together with buttercream, and I think are best with one (or both) ends dipped in chocolate.
Viennese Whirls Pro-Tip
Viennese Biscuit dough is very versatile. It can be piped as small kisses which can be used as fillers in treat boxes, or if you have a cafe/tea shop as little biscuits on the side of a tea or coffee cup. Cut the baking time down if you're making small biscuits.
It can also be piped into larger biscuits, but not too big or it'll break because it's so short. I've made these into Easter Nests, but they can also be piped into basic letters or numbers to create decorations.
As the flavour is fairly neutral they can be filled with different flavoured buttercreams and curds which will give them a flavour twist.
Viennese Whirls Recipe
Equipment
- 1 or 2 Flat Baking Sheet
Ingredients
Biscuits
- 100 gms Unsalted Block Butter soft (spreadable consistency) or Dairy Free Equivalent
- 40 gms Icing Sugar
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 1.5 tspn Vanilla Extract
- 125 gms Plain Flour
Lemon Buttercream and Decoration
- 50 gms Unsalted Block Butter, Spreadable Consistency
- 150 gms Icing Sugar
- 25 gms Lemon Curd
- 1 Packet Mini Eggs
Instructions
Biscuits
- Preheat your oven to 180c fan, 200c, 400f, GM6
- Line your baking sheets with greaseproof or parchment paper
- Using an electric mixer if you have one (or a lot of elbow grease if you don't) cream together the butter and icing sugar until it is smooth, light and fluffy
- Add the egg yolks and vanilla beat well
- Sift in the flour, and using a wooden spoon mix until you have a thick, spreadable dough. Don't overwork the dough
- Place into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip nozzle and pipe into whichever shape you want - whirls, fingers, kisses etc
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until the biscuits are a nice golden brown colour
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack and to allow to cool fully.
Lemon Buttercream and Decoration
- Beat together the butter, icing sugar and lemon curd until light and fluffy. I use an electric mixer and beat for a minimum of 5 minutes on medium.
- I decorated mine with the Lemon Buttercream, piped with a grass tipped nozzle. If you don't have a grass tipped nozzle you can use your star nozzle.
- Finish with Mini Eggs.
Video
If you're looking for biscuit and cookie recipes, why not try:
Left Over Buttercream Biscuits
Chocolate Cornflake Cookies
Grasmere Gingerbread
Leave a Reply