Chocolate Viennese fingers

I was flipping through one of my many cookbooks on the weekend when I came across a recipe for chocolate Viennese fingers from Cupcakes, Muffins & other baked goods by Love Foods.   As ashamed as I am to admit it, I’d not actually made any of the recipes from this cookbook yet, so I decided to make the Viennese fingers.

Viennese fingers or Viennese biscuits are a delicious treat to indulge in with a cup of tea or coffee.  The texture of the biscuit is somewhat similar to shortbread and are usually dipped in chocolate.   Traditionally Viennese biscuits are piped into finger like shapes with a fluted piping bag, however I discovered after I had already made the biscuit dough that the piping set I had but hadn’t used in a long time and assumed was tucked away in the drawer somewhere was nowhere to be found.  I blame myself and one of my de-cluttering phases and assuming that because I hadn’t used it in some time gave it away or threw it out.  I tried to improvise with a piping bag made from baking paper but I soon realised the dough was too thick for that.  I then tried using a snap lock bag with the corner snipped, however the thick dough soon exploded out of the bag as soon as I tried to pipe it.  In the end I rolled the biscuit dough by hand and tried (somewhat unsuccessfully) to make them look as though they had been piped.

Like me, have you ever made something or been in the middle of making something and suddenly found you are missing a vital ingredient or piece of kitchen equipment necessary to finish the job?  How did you improvise?  I’d love to hear your stories.

Recipe from Cupcakes, Muffins & other baked goods by Love Foods

Makes up to 20 fingers

115g of butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
55g of icing sugar
125g of plain flour
1 tbsp of cocoa
100g of dark chocolate

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper or grease well.

2. Add the butter and icing sugar to a mixing bowl and cream together until light and creamy.

3. Sift the plain flour and add to the creamed butter and sugar along with the cocoa.  Mix until combined.

4. If piping, take a fluted nozzle and pipe the mixture on to a baking sheet into fingers, otherwise mould the dough into your desired shape using your hands.  You can use a fork to create a pattern on the biscuits, as I did.

5. Bake for 15 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

6. Once cooled, melt the chocolate and dip one (or both) ends of the biscuit into the chocolate.  Place the biscuits on baking paper to set.

Tagged as: biscuits, Chocolate, cookies