Marie from Sun Prairie, WI (2017 Week 2: Cookies)

Baker

Marie

Location

Sun Prairie, WI

Baking Challenge

Viennese Whirls

Give your cookies or gingerbread creation a name based on the flavors and decoration – and tell us about your recipe.

Dad’s Brandy Old Fashioned Whirls. I decided to use Mary Berry’s Viennese Whirl Recipe and add some elements of the popular Wisconsin drink, the Brandy Old Fashioned. I followed Mary’s recipe exactly (the second time, through), but added a 1/2 tsp of Orange Zest to the biscuit dough, a dash of bitters and a "heaping" tbsp. of brandy to the filling, and substituted a delicious homemade cherry jam in place of the raspberry jam. The result is amazing and rich! They were the absolute perfect dessert for our Father’s Day cookout!

Now that you survived this challenge, what words of wisdom do you have to share?

Follow the recipe! Especially when trying something new for the first time! Also, when making Viennese Whirls, the freezer and fridge are your friends! The cookies are soooooo delicate! Before attempting to fill them, I popped the cookies in the freezer for about 20 minutes! That helped them to maintain their shape and not crumble in my hands as I filled. After filling, I put them back in the freezer until about 10 minutes before serving!

Tell us about how you added a Wisconsin twist.

In honor of Father’s Day (dad’s favorite drink!) and of a Wisconsin’s Classic, I added a Brandy Old Fashioned twist to the Viennese Whirls.

How did you do?

Absolutely lovely.