These cranberry and almond viennese whirl mince pies were mainly baked so I could take part in the Sunday Baking Club’s Technical Challenge Week last Sunday, which had the theme of Mince Pies. You can find the Sunday Baking Club here and on Twitter @SundayBakeClub.
They are a delicious way to jazz up your mince pies and make them a bit more exciting!
The Viennese whirl topping replaces the usual pastry lid. Icing sugar sifted over the top gives that look of fresh snow which we need over Christmas!
Even without the Viennese topping looks pretty striking.
I’ve never made Viennese whirl biscuits before but I’ve seen mince pies topped with Viennese whirls and thought they looked great so decided to try them out.
The mincemeat I used was Cranberry Mincemeat from the Waitrose Christmas range. It has a lovely red colour and tastes wonderful, and is ideal to give a bit of a twist to your mince pies.
If you’d rather make your own you could try this cranberry mincemeat from Le Coin de Mel.
I added some French almond extract to the Viennese whirl mixture for a lovely contrast in flavour to the cranberry mincemeat. The pastry I made was a shortcrust pastry that didn’t take long at all.
Piping the Viennese whirl mixture onto the mince pies was much more fun than topping them with a pastry lid, and didn’t take too much extra time. I’ll definitely be making them again!
They look almost like cupcakes with buttercream topping when you pipe out the mixture
My children also thought they looked good and weren’t averse to eating a few either… I have frozen the rest for us to enjoy over Christmas!
Viennese whirls are one of my favourite biscuits, that meltingly soft texture is what does it I think. Blueberry Viennese whirls with a purple tinge are also really fun to make though I wouldn’t use a colour here for topping the mince pies.
So make sure you try these Viennese whirl mince pies this Christmas for a change from traditional mince pies, and see what you think!
It is only a little bit more effort than making standard mince pies for scratch so I think it is really worth it for the extra bit of detail and taste.
Pin this recipe for Viennese Whirl Mince Pies for later!
Cranberry and Almond Viennese Whirl Mince Pies
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 200 g plain flour
- 100 g butter
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp cold water if needed
For the Viennese whirl topping
- 150 g butter softened
- 40 g icing sugar
- 150 g plain flour
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 jar (400 g) cranberry mincemeat
Instructions
- Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs.
- Stir in the caster sugar, and then pour in the egg. Use your hands to bring the dough together. If needed, add a little cold water to help it come together. Do not over knead, this keeps the pastry short.
- Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm, and chill it in the fridge for about half an hour.
- Next, make the Viennese whirl topping. Using a wooden spoon, beat together the butter and icing sugar until it is very soft and fluffy.
- Add the flour, baking powder and almond extract and mix together thoroughly. Spoon into a piping bag with a star nozzle fitted onto it.
- Roll out the pastry and use a cutter to cut out circles that fit your mince pie or muffin tin.
- Grease each hole in the tin then press in the pastry gently.
- Place a couple of teaspoons of the mincemeat in each pastry base.
- Pipe the Viennese whirl topping onto the mince pies in swirls, as if you were icing cupcakes.
- Bake at 180 degrees for approximately 25 minutes until the whirls have risen and are golden brown.
- Allow to cool, then serve cold, or warm with cream. Dust with icing sugar for that snowy effect!
Can you please advise whether these are suitable for freezing, and if not how long will they last ?
Hi Jan sorry I’ve never frozen these so couldn’t say. They’ll keep in a tin for approx a week.
I’ve had a look online and the WI suggests they can be frozen uncooked.
Amazing made last night – made 12 there are 3 left! Will definitely be making them again
Fab to hear!
What a fab idea using Viennese Whirls on top! Saving for later!!
Thanks Midge! Hope you do try them, let me know how they turn out in a free from way
G’day Lucy! Fantastic idea. My darling wife loves fruit mince pies. With the addition of my famous shortbread cookies. Wouldn’t have thought to combine the two, however you have given me great inspiration thankyou.
Hope you have a blessed Christmas.
AussieChef.Geoff
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Perfect, viennese whirl mince pies. It’s a year of new combinations for me, already tried curd tart mince pies which were brilliant and had a bit of a lucky accident! I dropped a tray of ordinary mince pies out of the oven, breaking them to a million pieces….. so I turned them into trifles with a little custard and jelly
Sounds tasty!
These are absolutely gorgeous. I love the texture of a Viennese whirls and the taste of a mince pie. This has got to be the best of both! Thanks so much for sharing with #festivefoodfriday.
Thanks Sarah! so many lovely ideas on festivefoodfriday, can you keep it open all year?
I have never made Viennese whirl biscuits before either. Love the Christmas theme of these one.
thanks Bintu, they are definitely a must-make!
Wow wow wow! Bring on the delicious!
I love this idea 🙂
& they certainly look extra cute with the icing sugar snow.
thanks Steph – we have now eaten them all, must make more before Christmas!
What a great idea, much nicer than a pastry lid.
thanks Janice, they were a little bit different
I like the Viennese biscuit topping! Very inventive. So these are hybrid baking creations, right? We need to give them a new name mincevien perhaps? They look delish Lucy, thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare
could be the new dossant or waffant! Thanks for hosting Lucy