Baking with Burns: How to make viennese fingers

You may have had your fill of Easter eggs last weekend but here's a different kind of treat that you can make and enjoy this weekend. Lisa has the all-important recipe...

Now that the Easter Bunny has been and left lots of chocolate goodies, I can get stuck into the sweet treats again!

This means, as well as eating the eggs as they come, I can use any surplus chocolate in my baking.

One quick way to use up some chocolate is to add it to Viennese fingers.

I remember eating these when I was a child. My mum used to buy them from the biscuit stall in Ashton Market and I recall how they used to melt in the mouth as soon as you tasted them.

They had a wonderful buttery, crumbly texture which was topped off by chocolate at either end of the biscuit. 

A real childhood treat.

I thought I would have a go at stirring up some childhood memories by baking a batch of the fingers and melt some chocolate eggs at the same time.

You can use milk or plain chocolate for the biscuits or you could leave them as they are and dip them into warm melted chocolate just before eating!

Ingredients 

Makes 18-20

125g/four and half oz of unsalted butter

75g/two and a half oz icing sugar 

175g/6oz self-raising flour

25g/1oz cornflour

A few drops of milk

140g/5oz chocolate

Method

1. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5.

3. Beat the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Gradually sift the flour and cornflour on top and mix thoroughly.

5. If the mixture is too stiff to pipe, gradually add a few drops of milk and beat together.

6. Place the mixture in a piping bag with a medium star shaped nozzle.

7. Pipe fingers around 5cm/2in long on the baking sheets, well spaced apart to allow for spreading during baking.

8. Bake in the oven for around 10-12 minutes.

9. Leave to cool for a few minutes on the baking trays and then transfer to a wire rack using a spatula.

10. Melt the chocolate and dip each end of the biscuit in it. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet to allow the chocolate to set.

11. Store in an airtight container.