Mary Berry’s Viennese whirls
Mary Berry’s viennese whirls are a simple 4 ingredient biscuit that are deliciously soft and crumbly yet easy enough for kids to help bake.
Viennese whirls may look elegant and fancy, but with only 4 ingredients they are surprisingly easy to make.
We first made Mary Berry’s Viennese whirls after watching her set them as a technical challenge on the Great British Bake Off. They take two buttery shortbread biscuits and sandwich them together with jam and cream.
Why are they called Viennese whirls?
Somewhat surprisingly, Viennese whirls are a British, rather than Austrian biscuit. They are inspired by similar biscuits and pastries from the country and named after Vienna though.
How can kids help make viennese whirls?
The biscuits themselves are really easy to make, so kids can help by measuring everything out and mixing it all together.
It’s important to mix everything really well to make a soft dough, otherwise we find it is too hard to pipe (especially for little chefs).
Piping the whirls was quite a fun job for my kids to do, although it is quite tricky for very young children to do. If you’re new to piping, you might find viennese fingers easier to do. We certainly find piping straight lines easier than these swirls.
How long do Viennese whirls keep?
Viennese whirls will keep in an air tight container for a few days. They might start to soften if you keep them much longer than this.
Why did my Viennese whirls go flat?
The main two reasons your Viennese whirls have gone flat is either because you didn’t add enough flour. If the ratio of your batter has too much butter to flour they’re likely to spread more in the oven.
It’s also important to chill your dough for long enough before you bake them. If you don’t allow them to chill in the fridge your dough wont firm up and your biscuits will go flat.
Viennese whirls on a serving plate.
What piping nozzle should I use?
The biscuit dough is relatively stiff so can be quite tricky to pipe (more so than some buttercream icing say). In order to be able to pipe it use a large star shaped nozzle. You could also use a large plain nozzle but you won’t end up with with same swirl pattern.
What can I use if I don’t have a piping bag?
If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a resealable piping bag to pipe your biscuits. Simply add the biscuit dough to your bag, seal it and snip one of the bottom corners off.
Time: 20 minutes plus 15 minutes baking and 15 minutes assembling
Difficulty: Medium
Serves: 12 biscuits
Viennese whirl biscuits on a serving plate.
Ingredients
For the biscuits
200g soft, unsalted butter
50g icing sugar
200g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
25g cornflour
For the filling
100g unsalted butter
200g Icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
Strawberry or raspberry jam
How to make Mary Berry’s Viennese Whirls
Line 3 baking sheets with non-stick baking paper. Using a 5cm/2in round cutter as a guide, get your child to help draw 8 circles on each sheet of paper, spaced well apart. Turn the paper over so the pencil/pen marks are underneath but still show through.
Mix the butter and sugar together
Get your child to weigh the butter then add to a mixing bowl or freestanding mixer. The butter should be soft before you add it to your mixing bowl. If it’s not soft (we always forget to take it out the fridge in advance), you can chop it in to pieces then pop in in the microwave for 10 seconds or so.
Measure the icing sugar then add it to your bowl. Beat them together with a wooden spoon (or the k paddle of your mixer) until they are light and fluffy and well creamed together.
Add the flour and cornflour
Measure the flour and cornflour into a bowl then sieve into your butter/sugar mixture. Beat everything together again until it’s well mixed. Make sure the mixture is quite soft at this point otherwise it will be hard to pipe – give your kids a hand if you need to.
Pipe the biscuits
Fit a piping bag with a medium star nozzle then spoon the mixture in. If you don’t have a piping bag you can spoon the mixture directly onto your baking sheets – you just wont get the same whirl affect. Alternatively, add the batter to a resealable bag and cut one of the bottom corners off to use as a piping bag.
Pipe 24 swirls (or blobs) inside the circles on your baking sheets. My kids like to try and do this themselves, but it is a lot easier if I help hold the piping bag and squeeze the biscuit dough out, while they guide it into the swirls. I also find the first few biscuits the hardest to pipe so it might be easier to do those yourself and then let your kids do the rest once the dough has softened in your hands a bit.
Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C Fan
Bake the viennese whirls
Before baking them, chill the biscuits in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before you bake them so that hold their shape better in the oven.
Bake the biscuits for 13-15 minutes. They’re ready when they’re a pale golden brown colour.
Cool them on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the filling
Get your child to weigh out the butter then add to a bowl. Measure the icing sugar then sift it on top.
Add the vanilla extract (1/2 tsp) and beat with a wooden spoon (or electric whisk) until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Fit a large star nozzle onto your piping bag then spoon in the filling. Seal the top with a clip if you have one.
Assemble the viennese whirls
We laid the biscuits out on a board with the bases facing up then spooned the jam on one side. Spoon the butter cream icing onto another biscuit then sandwich together.
Serve and enjoy!
Mary Berry's viennese whirls
Ingredients
Method
- Using a 5cm/2in round cutter as a guide, draw 8 circles on each sheet of paper, spaced well apart. Turn the paper over so the pencil marks are underneath.
- Weigh the butter then add to a mixing bowl. Measure the icing sugar then add them to your bowl. Beat them together with a wodden spoon until they are light and fluffy.
- Measure the flour and cornflour into a bowl then sieve into your butter/sugar mixture. Beat everything together again until it’s well mixed.
- Fit a piping bag with a medium star nozzle then spoon the mixture in. If you don’t have a piping bag you can spoon the mixture directly onto your baking sheets – you just wont get the same whirl affect.
- Pipe 24 swirls (or blobs) inside the circles on your baking sheets.
- Before you bake the biscuits, chill them in the fridge for at leaste 15 minutes so that they hold their shape better.
- Bake the biscuits in the oven for 13-15 minutes. They’re ready when they’re a pale golden brown colour.
- Cool them on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Weigh the butter then add to a bowl. Measure the icing sugar out then sift it on top.
- Add the vanilla extract and beat with a wooden spoon (or electric whisk) until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Fit a large star nozzle onto your piping bag then spoon in the filling.
- We laid the biscuits out on a board with the bases facing up then spooned the jam on one side. Spoon or pipe the butter cream icing onto another biscuit then sandwich together.
Similar recipes
If you liked these viennese whirls, you’ll love our danish butter biscuits, and our easy cookie and biscuit recipes. Or try our favourite easy bakes for kids.
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