Viennese whirls

These elegant, buttery biscuits might look extra impressive but they're surprisingly easy to make. Dip in chocolate for an extra sweet treat

Prep:45 mins
Cook:12 mins

Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 405
fat 25g
saturates 16g
carbs 42g
sugars 25g
fibre 1g
protein 2g
salt 0.6g

Ingredients

200g slightly salted butter, softened
50g icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
2 tsp cornflour
½ tsp baking powder
100g butter, softened
170g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g raspberry jam or strawberry jam

Tip

Chocolate version

For a chocolate dipped version, instead of sandwiching the biscuits together try dipping the flat side in melted chocolate. Leave them to set chocolate side up on baking parchment then serve.

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Put the butter and icing sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk for about 5 mins until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat again until fully incorporated.
Sift in the flour, cornflour and baking powder, and fold into the mixture using a spatula until combined (the dough should have a tacky consistency). Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped nozzle. If all the mixture doesn’t fit, do it in 2 batches.
Pipe swirly circles 5cm diameter onto 2 baking sheets making sure there are 3cm spaces between each swirl.
Bake for 10-12 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through the cooking time so the biscuits are evenly baked, until pale golden and cooked through. Leave to cool on the baking sheets for a few mins, then transfer to wire racks.
While the biscuits cool, make the filling. Put the softened butter in a large mixing bowl and add the icing sugar. Stir together initially with a wooden spoon then switch to electric beaters or a whisk to get the buttercream fluffy and smooth. Add the vanilla extract and beat once more to combine. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the end.
Turn the biscuits over so their flat side is facing up then pipe buttercream over half of the biscuits and spread a little jam on the rest. Sandwich a jam covered biscuit together with a buttercream one and repeat until all the biscuits are used up.