Sweet Viennese Biscuits, Americanized
If you have been perusing My Daily Drool's Adventures in Eating tab, you already know that I fell in love with Vienna when I spent a month studying there in college.
One of the things I fell in love with in Vienna was Haas & Haas a quaint tucked away tea shop behind the huge cathedral in the middle of beautiful-cobblestoned Vienna. Part of their tea fare was this lovely biscuit with a sweet cream dollop and raspberry jam; the perfect amount of sweetness when you pile them all together, daintily as you should while participating in a tea ceremony.
However, because I have been recreating this snack for a handful of years following my stint in Vienna, I have made it a little less ceremonious because food doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be good.
To quote from my Adventures in Eating, "On the second tier of the sweet plate (pictured above) there were dense biscuits with a thick cream and fruit preserves. Once I couldn't get a tea service to rival it in the states, I recreated the biscuit recipe to serve for brunch, continental breakfast, or dessert."
You can see my sloppier version of this snack after the jump, the picture above is the H&H version and mine has a lot less gold accents.
One of the things I fell in love with in Vienna was Haas & Haas a quaint tucked away tea shop behind the huge cathedral in the middle of beautiful-cobblestoned Vienna. Part of their tea fare was this lovely biscuit with a sweet cream dollop and raspberry jam; the perfect amount of sweetness when you pile them all together, daintily as you should while participating in a tea ceremony.
However, because I have been recreating this snack for a handful of years following my stint in Vienna, I have made it a little less ceremonious because food doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be good.
To quote from my Adventures in Eating, "On the second tier of the sweet plate (pictured above) there were dense biscuits with a thick cream and fruit preserves. Once I couldn't get a tea service to rival it in the states, I recreated the biscuit recipe to serve for brunch, continental breakfast, or dessert."
You can see my sloppier version of this snack after the jump, the picture above is the H&H version and mine has a lot less gold accents.
Since I knew none of the original exact ingredients, I had to wing this recipe using ingredients I was already familiar with; feel free to do the same to make it your own.
1 tub Mascarpone, Italian cream cheese*
~1/3 c Powdered Sugar (more or less, to taste)
1 jar Raspberry Jam/Jelly/Preserves (any fruit compote can be used here, exact amount depends on how much used per biscuit)
1 roll, refrigerated biscuit dough**
* Can use regular cream cheese or creme fraiche or ricotta if you wish, but adjust the powdered sugar to your taste if you'd rather it more tangy than sweet as each of these is different in taste and texture.
** French bread slices, croissants, or scones may also be used, whatever dense bread-like item you have on hand that will withstand the heaviness of the cream and jam.
1. In a large bowl whip together the tub of mascarpone with the powdered sugar, adding a little at a time to taste and see if you want it sweeter or tangier as the cheese is smooth and lovely by itself but lends itself better here (I think) to a little sweetness, but not too much to overpower the palate when paired with jam.
This step can be done a day or two ahead of time, just give a final mix with a spatula before dolloping on biscuits. I make the cream a few days in advance and scrape it back into the plastic tub of mascarpone.
2. Turn on oven to desired temp (marked on package) or to 350 if you are using already baked/premade biscuits or scones to heat them up for a few minutes before serving. Follow directions on dough package and bake biscuits accordingly.
3. Let biscuits cool for a few minutes so they can be held easily. Break open and slather with sweetened cream and jam making a little sandwich for each person.
In the case of a large party or lengthy breakfast, if you worry about biscuits getting soggy, simply leave warm biscuits out in a covered basket next to a bowl of sweetened cheese and a bowl of jam so people can make their own.
4. Enjoy but don't talk with your mouth full. These are tea biscuits after all; even if, more often than not, you eat them in your favorite sweatpants.
1 tub Mascarpone, Italian cream cheese*
~1/3 c Powdered Sugar (more or less, to taste)
1 jar Raspberry Jam/Jelly/Preserves (any fruit compote can be used here, exact amount depends on how much used per biscuit)
1 roll, refrigerated biscuit dough**
* Can use regular cream cheese or creme fraiche or ricotta if you wish, but adjust the powdered sugar to your taste if you'd rather it more tangy than sweet as each of these is different in taste and texture.
** French bread slices, croissants, or scones may also be used, whatever dense bread-like item you have on hand that will withstand the heaviness of the cream and jam.
1. In a large bowl whip together the tub of mascarpone with the powdered sugar, adding a little at a time to taste and see if you want it sweeter or tangier as the cheese is smooth and lovely by itself but lends itself better here (I think) to a little sweetness, but not too much to overpower the palate when paired with jam.
This step can be done a day or two ahead of time, just give a final mix with a spatula before dolloping on biscuits. I make the cream a few days in advance and scrape it back into the plastic tub of mascarpone.
2. Turn on oven to desired temp (marked on package) or to 350 if you are using already baked/premade biscuits or scones to heat them up for a few minutes before serving. Follow directions on dough package and bake biscuits accordingly.
3. Let biscuits cool for a few minutes so they can be held easily. Break open and slather with sweetened cream and jam making a little sandwich for each person.
In the case of a large party or lengthy breakfast, if you worry about biscuits getting soggy, simply leave warm biscuits out in a covered basket next to a bowl of sweetened cheese and a bowl of jam so people can make their own.
4. Enjoy but don't talk with your mouth full. These are tea biscuits after all; even if, more often than not, you eat them in your favorite sweatpants.
My sloppy version.
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