Viennese Shortbread are a reminder of childhood. My father made them in this crown shape. I love their ultra-crumbly, almost powdery texture, and the gourmet touch given by the chocolate dipping. I can’t resist them. –Pierre Hermé
Chocolate-Dipped Viennese Shortbread
Famous pastry chef Pierre Hermé shares his recipe for chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies.
Ingredients
Shortbread Dough
- 190 g butter softened to room temperature
- 75 g icing sugar
- 1 pinch Fleur de Sel de Guérande
- 1 pinch vanilla powder
- 30 g egg whites
- 225 g flour
Chocolate
- 200 g Valrhona Guanaja 70% Dark Chocolate
Instructions
Shortbread dough
- In a bowl, stir the butter with a spatula until it has the consistency of a soft pomade/cream. Add the icing sugar, fleur de sel, vanilla and egg whites and mix. Sift and add the flour. When the flour is incorporated and the mix is homogenous, stop working the dough.
- Using a piping bag equipped with a D8 piping nozzle, on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, pipe the dough in small ‘W’ shapes to create the Viennese shortbread shape.
- Bake in a convection oven at 170°C for about 16 minutes. Let cool.
Chocolate dipping
- Temper the chocolate: chop it up with a serrated knife, then melt it with a double boiler. Stir it gently with a wooden spoon, without incorporating air, until it reaches 55-58°C on a digital internal thermometer. Remove the chocolate from the double boiler. Place the pan in a second bowl filled with cold water and 4 or 5 ice cubes. Stir the melted chocolate occasionally to prevent it from hardening on the sides of the bowl. When the melted chocolate reaches a temperature of 27-28°C, put the bowl back on a lukewarm double-boiler while carefully watching the temperature (which should be between 31-32°C). The chocolate is now tempered.
- Dip one side of the each cookie in the tempered chocolate, then place them on a parchment paper sheet and let the chocolate harden. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
Notes
This dough should not be kneaded or stirred too much after the addition of the flour, to maintain its fine sift. You can increase the amount of vanilla or flavour it as you wish, with cinnamon, ginger or a mix of spices.
