Viennese Whirls are two buttery shortbread halves, sandwiched together with jam and buttercream. This vegan version is every bit as delicious as the kind you know and love!
Last year, I half attempted to do a vegan bake along whilst watching 'The Great British Bake Off' and it was my intention to do the same this year.
But committing to a blog-worthy bake once a week is a little unrealistic for me so I'm just going to play it by ear this time...
When I saw a clip of this week's episode (biscuit week) I caught a glimpse of some Viennese Whirls.
I've been wanting to make vegan viennese whirls for so long so it was the perfect opportunity!
What are Vienesse Whirls?
Vienesse Whirls are a delicious but preposterous creation, originating from Britain.
They're said to be inspired by Austrian Pastries but are completely unrelated.
They consist of two butter biscuits, sandwiched together with jam and buttercream.
How to make dairy-free Viennese Whirls
Follow the tips below and the recipe card at the bottom of this post to make the most delicious Viennese Whirls!
For the biscuit
I used my Vegan Danish Butter Cookie recipe because I wanted that same buttery, light texture and it worked wonderfully!
The really important thing with this recipe is to use a good-tasting vegan butter.
My favourite vegan butters to bake with (in the UK) are Naturli's baking block and Vitalite. I've heard Earth Balance Buttery is a great option for those in the US.
Creating the swirl
To be precise, you can draw circles about 2 ½ inch diameter - approximately 2 inches apart. Place some baking paper of the drawings and begin piping.
Starting from the outside of the circle, apply an even pressure and swirl the pastry around into the centre. Release the pastry bag and press into the centre slightly to create a "star" shape.
It can be tricky to get right first time but practise makes perfect!
For the buttercream
Again, a good tasting butter is required, as above!
Whipped together with some confectioner's sugar for a smooth, light vegan buttercream and piped onto one of the biscuit halves.
For the jam
I recommend a seedless raspberry or strawberry jam, but feel free to experiment with other jam flavours.
Dollop one teaspoon of the jam onto the other biscuit half and sandwich them together. Voila!
A few tips:
- If it's very cold in your kitchen and you're struggling to pipe the swirls, massage the icing bag (lol) for a minute, to loosen it up.
But be careful not to overwork the dough in the bowl, as it can cause a tough mixture.
You can also add a tiny drop of milk until you have a more pipe-able consistency. - Unless you're using precise measurements, keep the whirls smaller than you think they should be as they will expand ever so slightly in the oven.
- I would recommend keeping these cookies refrigerated until serving. Reason being, the buttercream may not hold up at room temperature for long hours.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Viennese Whirls
Delicious shortbread biscuits, sandwiched together with vegan buttercream and raspberry jam.
Ingredients
- 200 g / ¾ cup + 2 tbsp dairy-free butter, choose a good-tasting one!
- 125 g / 1 cup icing sugar
- 310 g / 2 ¾ cup plain flour
- 1 tbsp corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
- 2 tsp vanilla paste, or extract
- 1 tbsp dairy-free milk, if needed
For the filling
- 75 g / ⅓ cup dairy-free butter
- 125 g / 1 cup icing sugar
- Seedless raspberry jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Mix the dairy-free butter and icing sugar together in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the dairy-free milk.
- If the mixture is too stiff/thick, add the dairy-free milk to help thin it out until you have a soft but firm mixture.
- Transfer to a piping bag with a large star nozzle. Pipe the mixture into small circular spirals. Starting from the outside, working your way in. Try and keep them all the same size!
- Bake for approx 12-15 minutes until lightly golden.
- Leave to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the buttercream by simply whisking the dairy-free butter and icing sugar together until sweet and thick.
- Spread about a tablespoon of the buttercream onto half of the cookies. Dollop a teaspoon of rapsberry jam onto the other half and sandwich together.
- Serve or keep refrigerated for up to 2 days!
Amy says
Not entirely sure where I went wrong, as one review wrote mine were also quite hard to pipe but the biscuits themselves werent melt in the mouth, they were soft in the middle? I just almost creamed the butter and sugar together, used pure sunflower as that's the only butter I had available. Did I overmix? Should I have whisked the butter and sugar together?
Aimee says
If you creamed the butter and sugar well, you probably didn't do anything wrong! This can happen if it's cold or depending on the brand of spread etc. Sounds weird but try massaging the icing bag with your hands for a while to warm and loosen it up a bit. And you can always return to the bowl, add a tiny drop of dairy-free milk to make a softer dough - but obviously be careful not to add too much otherwise it won't retain its shape in the oven. Hope it works out :-)
Umesh Patel says
i am in india at the moment and cannot get vegan butter here. can these be made with oil ?
best regards
umesh.
P.P, these look delicious
Aimee says
Can you get margerine? Or sunflower spread? I haven't tested with oil so cannot say for sure but would use 160 ml of sunflower oil (or other mild tasting oil) in place. Let me know how you get on.
MB says
Can you freeze these ahead of time?
Rain W says
Hello! I'm so excited to make these for Christmas this year. How big should you pipe the cookies? Do you have any general measurements you use to get the complete 16 halves? Thank you! :)
Laura says
I find subbing some of the butter with Trex keeps them holding their shape!