VIENNESE WHIRLS by Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake (a guest post)

September 18, 2014

Get your eyes ready as this next guest blogger will make you drool over with her gorgeous looking and yummy treat for today. Ooppps! Not only for today, but she has also brought many droo-licious sweets. She is a sweet giraffe… err, person who loves to bake. Like her sweetness, she bakes lots of sweets. 😀

I will not let you wait longer; I bring you Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake –

When Jhuls said she needed volunteers to write guest posts for her, I jumped at the chance! Jhuls is such a sweet, lovely blogger and I am more than happy to help her out wherever I can, but my motivations are also a little selfish I must admit! I’m a big fan of her blog so it really is an honour for me to be able to guest post, I feel a little starstruck to be honest! I just hope my offering is up to her usual standards.

2014-08-19 15.44.55I am bringing some of my favourites to sweeten up you lovely readers of Jhuls, Viennese Whirls. These are made up very soft and buttery shortbread, buttercream and jam. Despite their name, they are a British treat, they don’t have much at all to do with Austria! Ever since I can remember, Viennese Whirls have been a favourite of mine, the super buttery shortbread just melts in your mouth, and the buttercream and jam make it the perfect tea time treat. I’ve stuffed myself with many store bought versions of these but nothing beats the homemade ones! There are another version of Vienesse Whirls that are just the shortbread and then they’re dipped in chocolate, but these ones are far superior in my opinion.

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I’m so happy to share this Vienesse whirl recipe with you all because not only does it produce some of the best cookies you will ever eat, but it’s so simple to make – the hardest part is piping the dough (it takes a bit of muscle and patience!). The shortbread is extremely short – and by that I mean there are equal amounts of butter and flour, so definitely not one for the diet! There is very little sugar too, all the flavour really does come from the butter so you want to make sure you use the best quality butter you can. I use Danish butter because it has a higher fat content and I like it’s slightly tangier flavour, but if you’re not in Europe it’s not worth paying the import costs – regular butter will be just as good!

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You can use any flavour jam you like on these, I normally pick raspberry as it’s my favourite for these treats. You can also flavour your buttercream with anything you like to suit your tastes, but personally I think vanilla buttercream is the best option – that way the butteryness (totally a word!) of the shortbread can really shine through! Have I mentioned yet how buttery this shortbread is?!
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Viennese Whirls
Makes: 10-12

Ingredients

For the shortbread:

  • 250g very, very soft unsalted butter (but not melted)
  • 50g icing sugar
  • 250g plain flour
  • 50g corn flour
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:

  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 200g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • Raspberry Jam

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper

Put all the shortbread ingredients in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until it all comes together and forms a soft dough

Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.

Pipe the dough on the cookie sheets into rosettes, about 2.5” in size. The dough is very soft but it will still be hard to pipe. I tend to put all the dough in the piping bag, but then only push a small amount down to the nozzle at a time to pipe, it makes it easier to manage.
 
Bake for 10 minutes or until they are a light golden colour and firm to touch. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Be careful, they will very delicate.

Beat together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla until it has all come together and beat for a few more minutes so it is light and fluffy. Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag with a star nozzle attached.

Spread jam on the flat under side of one cookie (about a tsp of jam, but use your judgement on how much jam you want) and pipe buttercream in a rosette on the flat side of another cookie. Sandwich the two cookies together, being very gentle as they are very delicate. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Dust cookies with icing sugar and serve. Will keep in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

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Standards? What are standards, Michelle? 😀 This guest post and everything here is amazing!! <3

Michelle is sweet – she never fails to leave me sweet messages. Now, aren’t you convince that her sweets are as sweet as Michelle:D Um, don’t tell me you missed these Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes. I did not. In fact, I took more than my share and I tell you, Michelle always saves something for me. 😛

Thank you so much and I am honored to have to here today, Michelle. I am so blessed to have you as my blogging buddy. <3 I know everyone enjoyed these. Right, folks? 😀

I’ll be back after a few days with the next guest blogger. Clue? No, clues! 😛

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