GRANDMOTHER'S PIPED BISCUITS

GRANDMA

Tarja

COUNTRY

Finland

ORIGIN

Vastila

INGREDIENTS

• 260 g butter/margarine
• 200 g sugar 
• 1 egg
• about 80 g almond (or 1-2 drops of bitter -almond oil)
• 350 g wheat flour

HISTORY

Honey cakes were the earliest biscuits and they were baked in ancient Egypt. Spreading to Europe from Egypt, they transformed into gingerbread. Allspice was the original gingerbread seasoning. Later other spices, such as cinnamon and cloves, were used. Gingerbread spread to the Nordic countries via monasteries. Biscuits, including gingerbread, are often viewed as a separate baking category. The gingerbread tradition gave rise to other biscuits. These have a much shorter, less well-known history.Until the 1920s, biscuits were rarely baked in Finland, apart from in mansions and for festive occasions. Biscuit recipes were often carefully guarded secrets. They became better known only through cooking courses and domestic economy schools in the 1920s and 1930s.Grandmother’s piped biscuits are made of shortcrust pastry and flavoured with almonds or bitter almond oil. The dough is piped into bars using a piping bag and shaped into circles.