Fox's Milk Chocolate Viennese: the biscuit that melts

A Viennese dough is soft enough to pipe, so it never meets a cutter; that is where the ridges come from, and why the biscuit melts rather than snaps. Add milk chocolate, which softens at much the same point, and the whole thing goes in one soft mouthful.

Piped, short and built on fat

There is far more fat in a Viennese dough than in a digestive or a rich tea, which is what makes it soft enough to push through a piping nozzle. On this packet the label shows milk chocolate at 27% and butter at 4%, alongside wheat flour, palm oil and sugar. The result sits nearer shortbread than a cookie: rich, rounded and buttery, with very little structure to speak of.

Milk chocolate suits a biscuit this delicate, where a dark one would overpower it. Because the short dough and the chocolate give way at roughly the same temperature, neither outlasts the other, and it eats as one soft mouthful instead of a biscuit carrying a topping. The allergen statement lists wheat (gluten), milk and soya.

Sip first, then bite

Do not dunk it. There is no firm, dry network of gluten inside, so hot tea floods in and the biscuit gives way almost as soon as it touches the surface. If it is the softening you are after, take a mouthful of your drink first and then a bite; the warmth does the work without the collapse, and nothing ends up at the bottom of the mug.

Temperature matters away from the mug as well. Kept somewhere cold, the fat firms up and the smell of butter and vanilla barely lifts; give the biscuits about ten minutes at room temperature and it comes back. The packet is kept small because the biscuit is so rich, and these break easily, so serve them on a plate at the table instead of passing the packet round.

A biscuit that suits almost any cup

Most biscuits need a particular drink. This one has no spice, no citrus and no great cocoa weight to clash with anything, so a breakfast blend, an Earl Grey, a Darjeeling, a herbal or a coffee will all work. The one thing to insist on is a hot cup, since butter and chocolate coat the mouth and heat is what clears them.

Earl Grey is our favourite match: bergamot gives the buttery richness a bright edge without fighting the milk chocolate. Within the Fox's range, the Viennese is the melting option, Rocky bars are for the lunchbox and Jam 'n' Cream is the tin biscuit. The firm itself goes back to 1853, when Michael Spedding baked his first brandy snaps in Batley.

The packs we stock

• Fox's Biscuits Milk Chocolate Viennese, 120g (barcode 5010035044608)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Fox's Biscuits Milk Chocolate Viennese, 120g says it contains wheat (gluten), milk and soya. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.

Ingredients, as published: Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Milk Chocolate (27%) [Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Dried Skimmed Milk, Dried Whey (Milk), Vegetable Fats (Palm, Shea, Sal, Mango Kernel), Butter Oil (Milk), Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin], Palm Oil, Sugar, Butter (Milk) (4%), Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Salt, Raising Agents: Ammonium Bicarbonates, Disodium Diphosphates, Sodium Bicarbonates; Flavouring, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin. Milk Chocolate contains Cocoa Solids 25% Minimum, Milk Solids 14% Minimum.

Ingredient and nutrition data for this product: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to drink with it

• Teapigs Earl Grey Strong, 15 Tea Bags 37.5g: A robust Earl Grey whose bergamot brightens butter and milk chocolate.
• Teapigs Darjeeling Earl Grey, 15 Tea Bags 37.5g: A lighter, more fragrant Earl Grey built on Darjeeling, for a delicate afternoon plate.
• L'Or Espresso Ristretto Intensity 11 Coffee, 40 Pods 208g: A short, intense espresso for the coffee drinker; the biscuit's butter rounds off its edge.
• Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g: Bergamot over a rooibos base, for anyone who likes the Earl Grey scent in a softer cup.

Elsewhere in the Fox's range

• Fox's Biscuits Chocolatey Biscuit Selection, 355g
• Fox's Biscuits Chocolatey Cookies Assortment, 365g
• Fox's Biscuits Classic Biscuit Selection, 275g
• Fox's Biscuits Jam 'n' Cream Raspberry & Vanilla Biscuits, 150g
• Fox's Biscuits Rocky Caramel Biscuit Bars Multipack, 7 Pack 136.5g
• Fox's Biscuits Rocky Mint Biscuit Bars Multipack, 7 Pack 138g

The full range is on the Fox's brand page.

FAQ

What is a Viennese biscuit? A short, high-fat biscuit made from a dough soft enough to pipe, which gives it ridges and a melting texture.

Can you dunk a Viennese biscuit? No. It collapses in about a second. Sip your drink first, then take a bite.

What should I drink with Fox's Milk Chocolate Viennese? Almost anything, as long as it is hot. Earl Grey, Darjeeling, a breakfast blend or a coffee all suit it.

Why is the packet only 120g? It is a rich biscuit, and a small packet is finished before it goes stale. Treat it as an afternoon treat, not a tin-filler.

Is there real butter in Fox's Viennese? Yes. The label lists butter (milk) at 4%, and the allergen statement shows wheat (gluten), milk and soya. Check the current pack before buying.

Curator's note: Give them ten minutes out of the cold before serving, then pour an Earl Grey. Chilled, they are a shadow of themselves. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Fox's Milk Chocolate Viennese: the biscuit that melts

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• Tea with Chocolate: Pair by Cocoa Percentage
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