Search this site

Maison Cupcake

Home Cooking and Baking by Sarah Trivuncic

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
    • Baking and Desserts
    • Family Food Ideas
    • Party Food Ideas
  • Misc
    • Journal
    • Classes and Events
You are here: Home / Recipes / Baking and Desserts / Brandy snaps recipe for brandy snap baskets

Brandy snaps recipe for brandy snap baskets

December 17, 2012 by Sarah Trivuncic 3 Comments

This site content is free. When you purchase via referral links on our posts, including those to Amazon, we earn affiliate commission, at no extra cost to yourself. Thanks for reading and please share posts you find useful!

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Brandy snaps are caramelised biscuits. The brandy reference comes from the addition of brandy into the cream traditionally used to fill the brandy snaps.

brandy-snap-recipe-brandy-snaps-basket

One of the earliest things I remember making as a teenager was brandy snaps. I don’t know where I’d previously seen them but I was fascinated by the lacy effect they made upon baking and the process of rolling them up quickly before they went hard. I remember the book talking about using wooden spoons with butter on them but I rolled my brandy snaps without this.

In the mid eighties my mother didn’t have any baking parchment paper and I remember the prolonged ordeal of getting the foil off my brandy snaps. It was almost as bad as delivering toffee from a loaf tin but that’s another story.  Given my propensity for mishaps with rock hard sugar, it’s surprising my mother allowed me in her kitchen at all really.

Brandy snaps were the kind of thing my grandma would serve although I definitely don’t remember her making them. Like Viennese fingers, I seemed to grow up with an awareness of brandy snaps and many traditional bakes even though hardly any were made at home . Until I started to try things out myself.

Brandy snaps baskets

Brandy snap baskets are easy to form, simply mould the flat brandy snap around the base of a buttered muffin tin. They make an edible receptacle for ice cream – the ones in the picture are shown with my mince pie ice cream recipe.

Like many caramel items, although initially hard the brandy snap baskets will soften with time. On the day of baking they’ll snap and stick your teeth together. A couple of days later and the brandy snap baskets will soften and become more fudgey – albeit less suitable to serve desserts in. So bear this in mind if you plan to make brandy snap baskets ahead.

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Brandy snaps recipe for brandy snap baskets

There's no brandy in these brandy snap biscuits but they're often served rolled up and filled with brandy infused whipped cream.
Prep Time12 minutes mins
Cook Time8 minutes mins
Total Time20 minutes mins
Author: Sarah Trivuncic

Ingredients

  • 50 g butter
  • 50 g caster sugar (superfine baking sugar)
  • 65 g golden syrup
  • 50 g plain flour
  • 1 level tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

  • Put the butter, sugar and syrup into a small saucepan and melt over low heat.
  • Sift the flour and ginger together. Add to the melted mixture with the lemon juice.
  • Drop 4 teaspoons of the mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, spaced well apart to allow for them spreading in the oven.
  • Bake in centre of oven at 160c / 325f / gas mark 3 for 8 minutes.
  • Butter a 12 hole bun case generously.
  • Leave on the tray for 1 minute. Lift up with palette knife and position gently into a hole on the bun case. Gently push and shape the brandy snap into a basket shape within the hole. It might tear a bit but so long as you have a cavity for your ice cream, this doesn't matter too much. Watch that the folds of the brandy snap do not fold inwards too much, try to pull the edges apart so you have nice round shape.
  • Allow to cool and serve.

Notes

They will keep for 1-2 weeks in an airtight tin. I find they go less brittle with time and I prefer them like that!
Although you can have a tray of brandy snaps within 20 minutes, you will find them easier to roll up or form baskets if you work with a few at a time.

 

This site content is free. When you purchase via referral links on our posts, including those to Amazon, we earn affiliate commission, at no extra cost to yourself. Thanks for reading and please share posts you find useful!
Filed Under: Baking and Desserts Tagged With: biscuits

About Sarah Trivuncic

Sarah Trivuncic has published recipes, restaurant and travel reviews on Maison Cupcake since 2009. She lives in Walthamstow, East London with her husband and teenager.
Read More/Contact

« Join the Christmas Tree Cookie Parade!
End of Year Round Up 2012 »

Comments

  1. Rose says

    February 2, 2025 at 7:10 pm

    5 stars
    Surprisingly easy to make really. But I’m not over keen on things that weld your jaws together. That said- they do shorten after day or so – but I love these for the fun of making them.

    Reply
    • Sarah Trivuncic says

      February 6, 2025 at 12:59 pm

      Haha yes I know what you mean. I had a similar experience with chewy florentines once. But you’re right, these are less chewy a day or two later.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. When a published recipe is plain darn WRONG - Maison Cupcake | Life's what you bake it says:
    August 19, 2013 at 8:00 am

    […] One should end up with a wafer thin biscuit that gets rolled up whilst still warm in the manner of a brandy snap. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




© 2009-2025 Sarah Trivuncic

All content copyright of site owner
Sarah Trivuncic
except where otherwise stated. All rights reserved. Neither images or text may be reproduced without permission. Privacy / Disclosure

My Book

Cover of "Bake Me I'm Yours... Sweet Bitesize Bakes" by Sarah Trivuncic; image shows a selection of small cakes and patisserie. The book has a green polka dot spine edged with pink ribbon and a bow.

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT