Chocolate Rose Biscuits – High Tea Series (Part 2)

I am quite addicted to piping a rose pattern having honed my skills on a wedding cake, a cake for the local Inner Wheel group as well as on the top of cupcakes.  So why not use the same technique for biscuits?  The blog that inspired the rose pattern posted some Neapolitan Spritz Cookies earlier this year and I knew straight away that I had to make them.  Although I didn’t package them quite the way Amanda at i am baker did (which is super cute), I did show them off on my new high tea stand so these Chocolate Rose Biscuits with Rose Water Buttercream could be part two of my high tea series.

The recipe consists of your standard ingredients for biscuits, being butter, one egg, vanilla, sugar, cocoa, flour and a little salt (which always makes chocolate taste so much better – just take my popcorn and malteser macarons for example).

Place the butter, egg, sugar and vanilla in your mixer and beat until creamy.

Once nice and creamy, add the flour, cocoa and salt and beat on a low speed until combined, taking care not to over beat as you do not want a tough cookie.

The mixture will be quite firm which is to be expected as if it was too soft, the roses would not hold their shape once piped.  It was quite cold the day I was making these so the mixture was really firm and given I have no upper body strength I added a little milk to help me pipe the biscuits (after I tried placing the bag in a container in another container of warm water to soften it – obviously didn’t work too well).

Spoon the mixture into your piping bag fitted with a 1M or 2D tip (I use the 1M but will be buying a 2D one soon to test it out).

To try and ensure my biscuits were evenly sized so that when I paired them up later, I used my 5cm macaron template as a guide.  If you would like slightly smaller ones, I also have a 4cm macaron template for you to use instead.

Place the biscuits into the preheated 205°C oven and bake for 5-10 minutes.  My biscuits didn’t hold their shape quite as well as Amanda’s did which I put down to the little bit of milk I added as the additional liquid caused them to spread a little (and if I read Amanda’s post properly I would have known this).

Leave the biscuits to cool and then make the buttercream filling.  The one I used was the same as the rose macarons but without the food colouring.

Once the buttercream is made, spoon it into a piping bag and cut off the tip of the bag.

Pair up the biscuits so they are similar in size and then pipe some of the buttercream onto one half.

Now place the other on top and then gently squeeze them together.

I kept the excess cookies in an airtight container in the fridge, but definitely allow them to come to room temperature before eating.

Print Recipe

Chocolate Rose Biscuits

Adapted from i am baker

Course

Biscuits and Cookies

Servings

biscuits

Ingredients

For the biscuits

• 1 cup unsalted butter softened (227g)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg(s)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain/all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the buttercream

• 57 g unsalted butter softened
• 125 g icing sugar sifted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 30 ml pure cream 35% fat
• 1/4 tsp rose water add a little more at a time for stronger flavour
• Pinch salt

Course Biscuits and Cookies Servings biscuits Ingredients For the biscuits 1 cup unsalted butter softened (227g) 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg(s) 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups plain/all-purpose flour 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1/2 tsp salt For the buttercream 57 g unsalted butter softened 125 g icing sugar sifted 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 30 ml pure cream 35% fat 1/4 tsp rose water add a little more at a time for stronger flavour Pinch salt

Instructions

For the biscuits

1. Preheat the oven to 205°C and line trays with baking paper.
2. Beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla extract on medium speed until creamy.
3. Add the flour, cocoa and salt and blend on a low speed until combined (ensuring not to overmix).
4. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1M or 2D piping tip and pipe onto the baking tray until 4-5cm in diameter.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 5-10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before filling.

For the filling

1. Beat together the softened butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the vanilla and beat for 1 minute to distribute.
2. Add the pure cream and salt and mix for a further 2 minutes. Finally add the rose water (adding more or less according to your taste) beating until well blended.
3. Place the filling into a piping bag.

To assemble

1. Pair the biscuits according to size and pipe some of the buttercream onto one of the biscuit halves.
2. Place the other on top and gently squeeze them together.
3. Store the biscuits in an airtight container and serve at room temperature.

High Tea Series

This is part two of my three part High Tea series and you can see what I made proudly displayed on my new High Tea stand.

Stay tuned for the final instalment next week.

• Part One – Mars Bar Slice
• Part Three – Mini Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins