Viennese Hearts

Seeing as it is Valentine's Day, I felt that some heart shaped biscuits were the most appropriate. I've been wanting to make some Viennese biscuits for a while now as they are one of my favourites due to their melt in the mouth texture and buttery taste. Despite using margarine rather than butter to make these biscuits dairy-free, they still turned out buttery and delicious. The trickiest part I find is always getting the mix to a consistency that can be piped, which always tends to lead to a great deal of frustration. My advice on this is, beat the mixture more than you think you need to and be patient when trying to pipe the shapes. With a bit of practice, you will get the feel of the consistency that the mixture needs to be for it to be successful.  

Recipe - Makes 16

• 100g margarine, softened
• 20g icing sugar
• 100g plain flour
• 20g cornflour
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g dark chocolate, melted
• Almonds, finely chopped

Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream together until very soft. Add the vanilla, followed by the flour and cornflour, and mix in until combined. Continue to mix until the mixture is a pipeable consistency, beating briefly if necessary to loosen. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm star nozzle and pipe hearts onto baking paper lining a baking tray. Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C. Remove from the fridge and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and leave on the tray to cool, before transferring to a wire rack. 

Once cooled, melt the dark chocolate in a bowl above a pan of simmering water. Dip the biscuits in so half of the biscuit is covered with chocolate. Sprinkle with almonds and return to the wire rack and leave until set.