This vintage biscuit recipe draws inspiration from the Australian Women’s Weekly ‘100 delicious Biscuits and Slices‘ cookbook published in 1972. You will find classic Viennese biscuits and Swiss cakes under the section titled ‘International Biscuits’.
My take on this Women’s Weekly vintage biscuit recipe yields an array of piped shortbread biscuits that melt in the mouth. Half are chocolate-dipped, half are topped with Maraschino cherries.
This is only one of a range of vintage recipes on my website – many based on Women’s Weekly vintage biscuit recipes. Check out the full range of recipes here!
Ingredients
220g plain flour
40g cornflour
1/2 tsp baking powder
250g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp flaky salt
50g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate, finely chopped
Maraschino cherries, to decorate
Makes 20 fingers and 25 cakes
Recipe can be halved successfully
Method
- Line a baking tray with baking paper (use a pen to draw 7cm lines and 5cm diameter circles on the reverse of the paper to use as a piping guide).
- In a medium bowl, sieve together the flour, cornflour and baking powder and whisk to combine. Place the butter, salt and icing sugar into a medium bowl and whisk with a hand-held beater until pale and fluffy (4-5 minutes). Beat in the vanilla, then mix in the sieved ingredients in 2-3 batches and continue to beat using mixer on low speed until evenly mixed. The consistency should be smooth but not extremely stiff.
- Place mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large (1.5cm) star nozzle.
For the Viennese fingers, pipe fingers on the baking paper using the template as guide. Allow space between each for some spread.
For the Swiss cakes, pipe rounds on the baking paper using the circle template as guide. - Preheat the oven to 180C fan. Freeze biscuits for 30 minutes (this will reduce spreading during baking). If you do not want to bake the entire batch, store in the freezer in an air tight container and bake from frozen.
- Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 6-8 mins until just golden in colour. Cool on the baking tray for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool and harden.
- For the Viennese fingers, place chocolate in a small microwave safe container deep enough for dipping. Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Once melted, dip the cooled biscuits to coat one half. Allow the chocolate to thoroughly drain before placing on a lined baking tray to fully set at room temperature.
For the Swiss cakes, sprinkle with icing sugar and top with a Maraschino cherry.
