Viennese Biscuits

Directions

1. 1
   For the biscuits:
2. 2
   Preheat the oven to 170C fan/190C/375F/gas mark 5. Grease (with butter) two baking trays.
3. 3
   Place the butter (175g) in a bowl. Sift the icing sugar (40g) over the butter. Beat the mixture until nice and creamy. Stir in the vanilla extract. Sift the flour (175g) and cornflour (40g) over the mixture. Stir them in until smooth.
4. 4
   Take 1 tablespoon of the mixture and shape it into a small ball. Make as many small balls as you can and place them onto the tray leaving spaces between them. Flatten each ball slightly with the back of a spoon.
5. 5
   Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes (I baked them 13 minutes), until they are pale golden brown. Leave them on the trays for 5 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer them onto a wire rack. Leave the biscuits on the wire rack to cool down completely.
6. 6
   For the chocolate ganache:
7. 7
   Put the plain or milk chocolate drops or chopped chocolate (75g) in a heatproof bowl and add double cream (4 Tablespoons).
8. 8
   Pour about 5cm (2 inches) of water into a saucepan. Heat the water until it bubbles, then take the pan off the heat.
9. 9
   Carefully put the bowl of chocolate on top of the water, inside the pan. Stir the chocolate and cream until the chocolate has melted. Lift the bowl out of the pan and let chocolate ganache cool for a few minutes.
10. 10
    When it is cooled put it in the fridge for about 1 hour, stirring it every now and then, as it thickens.
11. 11
    Take the chocolate ganache out of the fridge when it becomes soft like butter. Use a blunt knife to spread some onto the flat side of a biscuit. Press another biscuit on top. Sandwich the biscuits together in pairs until all the chocolate ganache and biscuits are used up.
12. 12
    Eat them straight away, or keep them in an airtight container in the fridge.