The most famous pink and red biscuits in Australia can now be remade at home with the official recipe for Iced VoVo. The iconic Arnott’s treat is the latest to be demystified by the Aussie brand as part of their generous series revealing once-secret recipes for those in lockdown.
That eternal favourite combination of marshmallow, sticky jam and coconut has been adapted into heart-shaped biscuits by this recipe. That means you aren’t exactly making the same Iced VoVo biccies you’d buy in the supermarket, but you’d be recreating them in a different form thanks to Arnott’s master baker Vanessa Horton.
Iced VoVo is the third recipe released by Arnott’s in the past few weeks, the first being a how-to on favourite Monte Carlo, and the second being one for the endearing tea-accompanying Scotch Finger.
Note that this recipe should take 10 minutes for prep, and 18 minutes for baking. It makes 36 biscuits.
Ingredients
Biscuit
- 180g unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (75g) soft icing sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups (300g) plain flour
Royal Icing
- 1 large egg white
- 1½ cups (200g) icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp glucose syrup
- 1-2 drops pillar box red colouring
- ½ cup raspberry jam
- ½ cup desiccated coconut
Extra baking items
- Heart-shaped cutter (optional)
- Piping bag and nozzle (optional)
Method
Biscuit
- Pre-heat fan-forced oven to 160°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, icing sugar and salt for 2 mins or until pale and creamy.
- Sift the flour into the butter mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
- Place half the mixture between baking paper and roll out to approx. 5 mm thickness.
- Using a 6cm heart-shaped cutter, cut out biscuits, transfer to baking sheets.
- Repeat rolling and cutting heart shapes with remaining mixture, re-rolling scrap dough to make more hearts.
Royal Icing
- Place egg white in a clean mixing bowl and mix on low speed with the whisk attachment until the whites begin to break up.
- Gradually add the icing sugar, vanilla and glucose, whisking until combined and glossy.
- If the mixture is too stiff, add a teaspoon of water to loosen it up but ensure it isn’t too runny as it will slide off the biscuit. It should form a smooth surface.
- Add your colour and stir until combined. Cover surface of icing with cling wrap until ready to use to prevent the icing going hard.
- Place a small round tip (we used a no2 nozzle) and fill your piping bag ⅓ full of icing. Do not overfill your bag. Fill another piping bag with raspberry jam.
- Pipe a jam strip down the centre of the heart biscuit and pipe pink icing around the edges before filling in the remainder of the heart with icing.
- Sprinkle with coconut. Place iced biscuits in a single layer of an airtight container to set overnight.
Tips
Be very light handed when adding your colour to ensure a soft pink colour.
If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a snap-lock bag and snip the corner off.
Biscuits can be made into any shape, including the traditional rectangle.
