SPICE UP YOUR CHRISTMAS BAKING

Any baking recipe that requires cinnamon, can be elevated by replacing it with the Baking Winter spice blend.

These traditional Viennese biscuits are buttery and indulgent and will melt in your mouth, especially with a hint of Christmas spices.

They are not the easiest to get right but boy is it worth a try. Even my first attempt which i had rejected ended up being eaten in a matter of hours.

TIP 1 The trick is to have very soft butter. When i made these it was an exceptionally cold day and the butter just didn’t seem to soften. It left the dough mixture very hard and difficult to pipe. Having said that warming the piped mixture in your hands loosened it and I also added some milk to get the right consistency.

Once piped, stick it in the fridge so that the definition in the shape of the biscuits is retained

TIP 2 Another tip is don’t over fill the piping bag. I know it seems a faff to do this twice but you need a good couple of inches if the piping bag to be able to twist at the top and allow you to firming hold as you pipe the mixture onto the baking tray

I can assure you that once these start to bake the whole kitchen will be filled with the aroma of Christmas (the baking spice blend)

INDIANNESE (VIENNESE) SWIRL BISCUITS

MELT IN THE MOUTH BUTTERY VIENNESE SWIRLS WITH A LITTLE XMAS SPICE

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

CHILLING TIME 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine British, Indian

Servings 20 SWIRLS

Equipment

• 2 BAKING TRAYS BOTH LINED WITH BAKING PAPER
• 1 MEDIUM BOWL
• 1 SPATULA
• 1 JUG FOR THE MILK
• 1 FLOWER PIPING NOZZLE SIZE 1D
• 2 PIPING BAGS
• 1 SIEVE
• 1 TALL CYLINDRICAL JUG/VESSEL TO HOLD THE PIPING BAG IN WHILST YOU FILL IT

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 200 GRAMS PLAIN FLOUR
• 200 GRAMS SOFT BUTTER
• 2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 2 TSP CORNFLOUR
• ½ TSP BAKING POWDER
• 75 GRAMS ICING SUGAR
• 2 TSP Winter Spice Blend
• 30-50 ML MILK
• 1 PENCIL

Instructions

 

• LINE TWO BAKING TRAYS WITH BAKING PAPER.
• ON THE BAKING PAPER USING A PENCIL DRAW 5 CM DIAMETRE CIRCLES, AT LEAST 3 CM APART (APPROX 10 PER SHEET) [1]
• PREHEAT OVEN ON TO 180c OR 160c FAN ASSISTED.
• SIEVE THE FLOUR, BAKING POWDER, AND CORN FLOUR INTO A BOWL.
• IN ANOTHER BOWL MIX THE BUTTER [2] AND THE ICING SUGAR TOGETHER UNTIL LIGHT AND FLUFFY WITH A SPATULA ( I USED A DOUGH MIXER)
• ADD THE VANILLA EXTRACT TO THE BUTTER AND SUGAR AND MIX AGAIN FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES [3]
• FOLD IN THE FLOUR AND ADD THE BAKING SPICE BLEND
  
• IF THE MIXTURE IS TOO DRY AND DOESNT COME TOGETHER, STEADILY ADD MILK TO IT, LITTLE BY LITTLE. THE CONSISTENCY SHOULD BE A TOUGH DOUGH THAT KEEPS ITS SHAPE.
• PLACE THE NOZZLE IN THE PIPING BAG AND FILL WITH HALF THE DOUGH MIXTURE.
• GENTLY PIPE WITHIN EACH CIRCLE STARTING FROM THE MIDDLE OUTWARDS
• DO THE SAME WITH THE REMAINDER OF THE DOUGH IN THE SECOND PIPING BAG
• PLACE BOTH TRAYS IN THE FRIDGE FOR 30 MINS IF YOU HAVE TIME [4]
• PLACE IN A PREHEATED OVEN FOR 15-20 MINS AT 160c FAN, AFTER 12 MINS SWAP THE TRAYS OVER AND ALLOW TO BAKE FOR ANOTHER 8 MINS OR TILL THE BISCUITS LOOK GOLDEN
• ONCE GOLDEN, TAKE OUT, ALLOW TO COOL BEFORE TAKING THEM OFF THE BAKING TRAYS.

Notes

1. I USED AN EGG CUP TO DRAW AROUND, THEN FLIP THE PAPER OVER SO THE PENCIL MARK IS UNDERNEATH
2. THE BUTTER NEEDS TO BE SOFT SO THAT IT COMBINES WELL WITH THE SUGAR AND BECOMES LIGHT AND FLUFFY
3. IF AFTER ADDING THE FLOUR, THE MIXTURE SEEMS TOO HARD ADD A LITTLE MILK TO LOOSEN THE DOUGH. DONT LET THE CONSISTENCY BE TOO LOOSE AS THE SWIRL WILL LOOSE ITS SHAPE ONCE BAKED
4. IF TIME ALLOWS, CHILL THE SCONES IN THE FRIDGE FOR 30 MINS OR IN THE FREEZER FOR 30 MINS. THIS ALLOWS THE BUTTER TO RELEASE STEAM WHICH INTURN CREATES A FLUFFY AND FLAKY TEXTURE.

Keyword AFTERNOON TEA, BISCUITS, BUTTER, CHRISTMAS, FUSION, spice, SWIRLS, XMAS

Recommended Spice Blends for our biscuit recipes