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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is a Viennese Whirl a biscuit or a cake?

60 replies

Mysterian · 07/10/2023 18:26

I has a seaside Viannese whirl earlier. It was huge. Imagine circumnavigating a regular sized family hedgehog in ball formation. It was that diameter. Thick too, like a dog's paw or a book that makes you look intelligent. Probably the equivalent of 2 six packs of Mr Kipling's whirls.
But was it a cake or biscuit? It tastes like shortbread which is an obvious biscuit and it knows it, but then again it yields so easily to the squash of the tongue. Or is it a totally different category of foodtypes like a fungus is to plants and cats?

I say biscuit! - YANBU

Not biscuit - YABU

OP posts:
MatthewsMumFromTikTok · 07/10/2023 19:01

With jam and cream....

loverrr · 07/10/2023 19:07

Its sold in the cake aisle so...

Original poster
Mysterian · 07/10/2023 19:12

gaggiagirl · 07/10/2023 18:52

Have you got any photos?
I've never seen a giant one before. Which seaside should I attend to acquire one?
Sounds beautiful.
And it's a biscuit 🍪

It was at Mudeford Quay on the South coast. I had a camera with me as I was about taking photos but it looked too gorgeous so I just followed my heart and ate it. Not it one go though. Too large for that, so took an uneaten third for a ride on a ferry before finishing it off.

Okay, it's confirmed as a biscuit. Feel weird about doubting myself but I felt it was safer to check. A lot could go wrong with careless food categorisation.

OP posts:
evtheria · 07/10/2023 19:28

OnlyFannys · 07/10/2023 18:41

I can't get past your frame of reference for the size being regular sized family hedgehog in ball formation 😂😂😂
I haven't seen a hedgehog in real life for years so this doesn't help in the slightest but I love it nonetheless

This cracked me up too, I wondered if I was the only person who doesn't know how big/small this is!

TheYearOfSmallThings · 07/10/2023 19:30

The Viennese Whirl is a biscuit, but the one you are sounds very unorthodox to me.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 07/10/2023 19:42

InMySpareTime · 07/10/2023 18:51

Biscuit.
The reason it is softer than shortbread is that Viennese biscuits have self raising flour not plain flour.

Viennese Whirls you beat till they're fluffy , I just checked the BBC Good Food site , they use plain flour + cornflour )
Shortbread is rubbed in then kneaded to shape

I would go for shortbread all day long , especially if it;s a bit chewy in the middle .

DdraigGoch · 07/10/2023 19:45

welovetv · 07/10/2023 18:30

I read somewhere recently that a cake goes hard when stale and a biscuit softens as it goes stale. On that basis, I assume a Viennese whirl would soften and would therefore be a biscuit?

(My source is likely either here or Facebook though, so I'm not sure how accurate it is!).

You're correct. This is how McVities won a tax case against HMRC.

Original poster
Mysterian · 07/10/2023 19:49

But I reckon an Eccles Cake would go soft so it must be a biscuit.

OP posts:
InMySpareTime · 07/10/2023 19:52

@70isaLimitNotaTarget there's plain flour, cornflour and Baking Powder in the BBC Good Food recipe. The baking powder is the difference between plain and raising flour, surely?
I always just use raising flour in recipes with plain flour and baking powder, and have never had an issue.

InMySpareTime · 07/10/2023 19:53

@Mysterian Eccles cake is a pastry

Wiccan · 07/10/2023 19:53

I want to say biscuit only because I dunk Viennese whirls in my tea 😉

InMySpareTime · 07/10/2023 19:54

@Wiccan Viennese is a risky dunk, you must be a dunking master!

Wiccan · 07/10/2023 20:01

InMySpareTime · 07/10/2023 19:54

@Wiccan Viennese is a risky dunk, you must be a dunking master!

It took a bit of practice ( the odd very thick creamy tea ) but I've got it sussed now with a split second dunk . My DH thinks I'm disgusting and I shouldn't be allowed near tea 🤣🤣

TheKeatingFive · 07/10/2023 20:18

Clearly a biscuit 🫠

MereDintofPandiculation · 07/10/2023 20:33

welovetv · 07/10/2023 18:30

I read somewhere recently that a cake goes hard when stale and a biscuit softens as it goes stale. On that basis, I assume a Viennese whirl would soften and would therefore be a biscuit?

(My source is likely either here or Facebook though, so I'm not sure how accurate it is!).

That was the argument put to the court by the makers of Jaffa cakes, I think

Loubelle70 · 07/10/2023 20:34

Biscuit for sure lol
What about jaffa cakes?

Sehenswürdigkeiten · 07/10/2023 20:35

Most definitely falls into the biscuit category, but then so do Jaffa 'cakes' apparently......

countvoncount · 07/10/2023 20:40

This has started a weighty debate with my DH, I say biscuit, he says cake (works for Tesco)
Apparently as they're in the cake aisle that's game over.
Started a sub argument with time outs... which are clearly a chocolate bar, but no they're not, as they're stocked in the biscuits section.

SleepingStandingUp · 07/10/2023 20:45

Biscuit. Other answers to the contrary are wrong.

Baaaaaa · 07/10/2023 21:11

Yanbu. Haven't read other responses so someone's probably said this but cakes go hard with age and biscuits go soft. Think V Whirls would go soft.

pizzaHeart · 07/10/2023 21:21

Would you say about that size or bigger?

Is a Viennese Whirl a biscuit or a cake?
Original poster
Mysterian · 07/10/2023 21:33

Too big. I did state ball formation rather than battle mode.

OP posts:
MezzoSexual · 07/10/2023 21:56

@Mysterian Eccles cake. The clue is in the name. Surely?

MezzoSexual · 07/10/2023 21:57

pizzaHeart · 07/10/2023 21:21

Would you say about that size or bigger?

That hedgehog looks well grumpy and also adorable. Thanks for making my evening.

InMySpareTime · 07/10/2023 21:59

Wikipedia says biscuit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viennese_whirls?wprov=sfti1

Is a Viennese Whirl a biscuit or a cake?