Viennese Whirl is an exquisite pastry-like-cookies that has been a favorite among people for many years. It is a buttery, flaky pastry with a unique shape, texture, and flavor.
Brief History and Origin
The Viennese Whirl was first created in Vienna, Austria, in the late 19th century. During this time, Austrian bakers began experimenting with different shapes for their biscuits, and thus the Viennese Whirl was born. The popularity of the Viennese Whirl spread quickly throughout Europe, eventually making its way to Britain in the early 20th century.
Viennese Whirl – The Recipe
- Preparation Time: 45 mins
- Cooking Time: 12 mins
- Total time: 57 mins
- Servings: 10
Ingredients
For the biscuits
- 200g softened butter
- 50g icing sugar
- 200g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tsp. cornflour
- ½ tsp baking powder
For the filling
- 100g softened butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 170g icing sugar
- 50g strawberry jam
Instructions
For the biscuits
- Prepare the oven and preheat it to 160 degrees C. Also, prepare 2 baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
- Add icing sugar and butter in a large bowl, and whisk for 5 minutes using an electric mixer or until fluffy and pale. Add vanilla and whisk again until everything combines well.
- Add cornflour, baking powder, and flour, and fold the mixture with the help of a spatula until the mixture has a sticky consistency.
- Transfer the batter to the piping bag, fixed with a star-shaped nozzle, and pipe 5cm diameter swirly circles onto the prepared baking sheets. Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the color turns pale golden.
- When biscuits are ready, remove them from the oven and leave them for some time to cool slightly, then transfer them to the wire rack until completely cooled.
For the filling
- Add icing sugar and butter in a large bowl, mix with a wooden spoon, then whisk using an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.
- Then add vanilla extract and whisk until everything combines well, then transfer to a piping bag and cut the end.
- Flip them to bring the flat side up when the biscuits are cooled, spread jam over half of them, and pipe filling over the rest.
- Sandwich a cream-covered biscuit with the jam one and repeat with all the biscuits, then serve immediately.
Popular variations
Here are a few ways you can change this basic recipe to adjust it to your liking:
- Chocolate Viennese Whirls: Chocolate Viennese Whirls are pretty exciting and tasty. Traditionally they are made with a vanilla biscuit and sandwiched together with jam and vanilla buttercream but make it all chocolate.
- Black forest Viennese whirls: These have classic chocolate-dipped cookie versions sandwiched with morello cherry jam and luscious buttercream. They are simple to make and yet so fancy.
- Lemon and strawberry Viennese whirls: the lemon-flavored cookies with icing and strawberry jam melts in your mouth. They are tangy and sweet, perfect for teatime and snack.
- Pistachio Viennese Whirls: The traditional cookies with the pistachio cream filling have a sweet and nutty flavor. The green pistachio filling with light cookies makes them pleasing to the eyes and tongue.
- Chocolate and pistachio Viennese whirls: These melt-in-the-mouth whirls no-sandwich cookies have a crumbly shortbread texture and are dipped in melted milk chocolate and crushed pistachio nuts. They are so pleasing and satisfying.
