Saturday, September 10, 2016

Viennese Whirls


The Great British Bakeoff is back and all is well with the world. I had never heard of these biscuits/cookies before I saw them them in episode 2, but I knew immediately that I wanted to try them. What a bonus that the recipe is so easily veganized. I tried a version will all vegan butter but it did not come out as well as this version. I made a bunch of raspberry jelly this summer from our own berries, and it was absolutely perfect for this recipe. Use whatever jam you like, or check out the original recipe and make your own.

INGREDIENTS
Cookies
- 6 oz soft vegetable shortening
- 3 oz soft vegan butter
- 1¾ oz icing sugar
- 8 oz all purpose flour
- 1 oz corn starch
- large pinch of salt
- pinch of turmeric (optional)

Buttercream Filling
- 3½ oz soft vegetable shortening
- 7 oz icing sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract

- raspberry jam

METHOD
Cookies
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Move two racks to the centre positions. 
1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a 2" round cutter as a guide to draw 12 circles on each sheet of paper. Turn the paper over so the pencil marks are underneath.
2. With an electric hand mixer, beat the shortening, vegan butter, and icing sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Add flour, corn starch, salt, and turmeric (if using) and mix well with a wooden spoon, until smooth.
4. Transfer mixture into a piping bag fitted with a medium star nozzle. Pipe 24 swirled rounds (not rosettes), inside the circles on the baking sheets.
5. Bake both trays for 6 minutes, then rotate pans (and switch racks) and bake for another 6-8 mins, until they are a pale golden-brown. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then carefully transfer to a wire rack.

Buttercream Filling
1. Beat all ingredients with an electric hand mixer until light and smooth. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.

TO MAKE THE COOKIES
Spoon jam onto the flat side of 12 of the biscuits. Pipe the buttercream over the jam and sandwich with the remaining biscuits. Dust with icing sugar to finish.