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Viennese whirls are a delightful British sandwich biscuit! Two buttery piped shortbread biscuits are filled with soft vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam, making the perfect tea time treat! Recipe by movers and bakers
5 from 1 vote

Viennese Whirls

Master the art of the classic British Viennese Whirl with this foolproof recipe. Featuring a light, melt-in-the-mouth shortbread made with cornflour for ultimate tenderness, these piped biscuits are sandwiched with velvety vanilla buttercream and tangy raspberry jam. A perfect teatime treat!
Servings 14 servings
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chill Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the biscuits

  • 250 g (1 cup + 2 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 90 g (½ cup + 3 tbsp) icing (powdered) sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 230 g (1 ½ cups + 2 tbsp) plain (all purpose) flour
  • 70 g (½ cup + 1 tbsp) cornflour (cornstarch)

For the buttercream and decoration

  • 125 g (½ cup + 1 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 220 g (1 ½ cups + 2 tbsp) icing (powdered) sugar
  • 0.5 tsp vanilla
  • 2-3 tsp milk
  • 4-5 tbsp raspberry jam

Instructions

For the biscuits

  • Draw circles about 2" in diameter on two pieces of parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches gap between the circles. Then flip the paper over (so the drawn side is face down) and place them on the baking trays. Set aside.
  • Cream the butter and icing (powdered) sugar together for a few minutes until paler and really soft. Beat in the vanilla then gradually mix in the flour and cornflour (cornstarch) until everything is combined. Do not over mix (see notes). Transfer to a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle.
  • Pipe swirls of dough using the circles drawn earlier as a guide. Keep the piping a little smaller than the drawn circles to allow for the biscuits to spread slightly during baking. Pop the baking trays in the freezer to chill for half an hour.
  • When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Bake the biscuits for 9-10 minutes one tray at a time, turning the tray halfway through baking if needed for even browning of the edges. Allow the whirls to cool and firm up on the tray before transferring to a wire rack,

For the buttercream and decoration

  • To make the buttercream, beat the butter until very soft and pale. This will take a few minutes. Add in half the icing (powdered) sugar and mix together until smooth. Beat in the vanilla before adding the second half of the icing (powdered) sugar and mixing again until smooth. Add a little milk as required if the buttercream is a little stiff. Beat the buttercream on high to make it lovely and light and fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
  • Stir the jam to loosen it. Transfer to a piping bag if you wish, or you can use a teaspoon to spread the jam onto the biscuits.
  • Pipe some buttercream onto the flat side of half of the biscuits. Pipe or spoon some jam over the buttercream, then top with one of the undecorated biscuits, gently pressing together. Dust with additional icing (powdered) sugar if you wish. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

  • I would highly recommend using weighing scales to make this type of biscuit, as they can be temperamental and tricky to pipe or hold their shape when baked if the quantities are not accurate.
  • Use butter at room temperature when making both the biscuits and the buttercream. This will make it a lot easier to mix the ingredients resulting in a better finished bake.
  • Always use icing (powdered) sugar in both the cookies and the buttercream filling. Icing sugar dissolves more easily into each mixture, giving smoother finished results without the 'crunch' of sugar crystals.
  • When making both biscuit and filling, beat the butter and sugar on high until much paler and really soft and spreadable. Doing this will make piping both mixtures much easier.
  • Once the flours have been added to the mixture, you do not want to beat it any more than required to mix it all together. Overmixing the dough will result in tougher baked biscuits as it will overwork the gluten in the flour.
  • Always use a strong piping bag to ensure it does not burst during piping, especially when preparing the biscuits. Ensure you use an open nozzle too (I used a star tip for the extra decoration it gives) to make it easier to pipe the dough.
  • Freezing, or at least chilling, the dough piped biscuits before baking will help them hold their shape better as it gives the butter chance to firm up again once softened during mixing.
    • Author: Andrea
    Calories: 424kcal
    Course: Dessert, Snacks
    Cuisine: British
    Keyword: Bake Off Inspired Recipes, Buttery Vanilla Shortbread, Classic British Viennese Whirls, Cornflour for Tender Biscuits, Nostalgic Childhood Bakes, Piped Shortbread Cookies, Viennese Shortbread, Viennese Whirls Recipe

    Nutrition

    Calories: 424kcal