Iced VoVo Biscuits

If there’s ever a biscuit that brings out nostalgic feelings in an Aussie, it’s the Iced VoVo.  Yes, the other one on the nostalgia list is the Tim Tam but for today, we’re talking about Iced VoVos.

Iced VoVo Biscuits

Iced VoVo Biscuits

Back in my school days, there were a lot of lunch boxes that contained Iced VoVos and if they weren’t in your lunch box they were there for you when you came home and walked through the front door looking for afternoon tea.

Make a template 5cm x 4cm

Make a template 5cm x 4cm

For a while I’ve been wanting to see if I could create a homemade version of Arnott’s famous biscuit with its fluffy pink marshmallow on the sides sprinkled with desiccated coconut with a raspberry jam stripe down the centre.

Ready for the oven

Ready for the oven

It’s been fun here in the kitchen the last couple of days and having now created a homemade version of the Iced VoVo, I can say the homemade version is definitely superior to the packet version.

Just out of the oven

Just out of the oven

But there’s a lot more work involved here than popping off to the supermarket and putting the bought variety in your trolley.  I made these over two days.  I made the biscuits (cookies) first, then topped them with the marshmallow and coconut and jam the following day.

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Pipe the marshmallow, then sprinkle with coconut

I can confirm there is a lot of mess involved – I was actually on my hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor twice after flour and coconut flew around the room.  And then there’s the benches that become covered with every ingredient including sticky marshmallow and jam.

Pipe the jam after the marshmallow and coconut

Pipe the jam after the marshmallow and coconut

You will also need two piping bags of different sizes.  I bought a large disposable bag for the marshmallow and had a wide star nozzle on the end for the piping.  The jam needs the other piping bag and it also requires a fairly wide nozzle otherwise the raspberry pips will clog your nozzle.

Iced VoVos

Iced VoVos

So these are a little fiddly, a wee bit time-consuming, and you’ll need to hose your kitchen out afterwards.  But that’s the only bad news there is – the good news is that these biscuits are definitely worth it.  If you’re having an Aussie celebration you should put these iconic biscuits on your list of ‘must-make’.  Or even if you just want to have a lovely treat ready for when your kids come home from school, these biscuits are a guaranteed hit.  And I think they’re very pretty too.

Marshmallow, coconut and raspberry jam on a biscuit

Marshmallow, coconut and raspberry jam on a biscuit

4.9 from 7 reviews
Iced VoVo Biscuits
Author: 
Recipe type: Biscuits/Cookies
Cuisine: Australian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 40
 
An Iced VoVo biscuit/cookie that's edged with stripes of marshmallow covered in coconut and with a stripe of raspberry jam down the centre.
Ingredients
  • 125g butter, softened
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1⅓ cups plain flour
  • 1⅓ cups self-raising flour
  • For the marshmallow:
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1½ tbspn gelatine
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pink food colouring
  • To decorate:
  • 1 cup raspberry jam
  • ½ cup desiccated coconut
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C (375F).
  2. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
  3. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions. Add vanilla and mix to combine.
  4. Stir in the flours.
  5. Lightly dust surface with flour and turn dough onto surface. Knead gently until smooth (about a minute).
  6. Roll out dough to about 4mms thick.
  7. Make a template 4cm x 5cm. (I used a thick piece of cardboard). Use the template to guide the size of each biscuit. Cut around the template and make 40 biscuits.
  8. Place biscuits on baking trays and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on trays before shifting to a wire rack.
  9. For the marshmallow:
  10. Place sugar and water and gelatine in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk lightly to ensure there are no lumps in the gelatine. Bring to the boil then allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes.
  11. Remove from heat and place in a mix master. Allow to cool (about 30 minutes).
  12. When cool, beat at high speed until the volume has significantly increased and the marshmallow is light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract and pink colouring.
  13. To assemble:
  14. Place marshmallow into a large piping bag with a wide star nozzle. Working quickly (because the marshmallow sets quickly), pipe the biscuits along each long side with marshmallow. Sprinkle piped marshmallow with coconut and shake off excess. Using a smaller piping bag with a smaller nozzle, place jam in piping bag and pipe a raspberry jam stripe down the centre of each biscuit.
  15. Store biscuits in an air-tight container.
  16. And now for the clean-up...
An Aussie classic

An Aussie classic

Comments

  1. The most hilarious thing I heard on the Sky news coverage of LibSpill was one of the commentators saying that Julie Bishop would not be sitting in her office with an iced vovo and a cup of tea, that she would be on the phones trying to drum up votes. Why one of these things cancels out the other I am not certain.. those talking heads do spout some enormous rubbish!

    I am confident that Julie can talk on the phone and eat an iced vovo at the same time if she felt the need to.

    The Iced Vovo is a biscuit I have never tried but I am quite the fan of the new Salted Caramel Monte Carlo biscuits I found at the supermarket recently.

    • Thank you for my ‘laugh of the day’! Looking at that lady’s figure I doubt that either a Vovo or Monte Carlo gets served or eaten!! Now I do not eat biscuits/cookies – whatever, but no one reading/commenting would believe both of these ‘bikkies’ were around six decades ago 🙂 ! They were . . .

  2. Nicely done, Charlie. Very nice. Must admit, I never ate those in my childhood… Wagon Wheels were my thing, if and when I ate biscuits. Love your photographs xx

  3. These little biscuits are quite stunning and love the flavors too. Do you freeze them if you guys can’t get through them fast enough… LOL I bet with the crew at home that has never happened, freeze them why bother even putting them in a container as they are gone in less than 10 minutes flat.

  4. They look well worth all the effort and mess Charlie.
    Have a happy day.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  5. Oh Charlie it sounds like the kitchen was a right mess but worth it. If that was me I’d be rationing the VoVo’s because no one would appreciate the time and effort that had gone into making them!! They do look pretty fabulous though.

  6. Absolutely these were a fav as a kid! I have made and blogged a couple of Iced Vo Vo recipes. You’re right – mess is the order of the day but once you’ve had a home-made version you won’t ever buy a pack again.

  7. I confess. I have heard about Iced Vo Vos but I’ve never eaten one. To be truly Australian, I will make this recipe, exactly as written. So pretty!

  8. OMG you did it. They look so good. Worth all that scrubbing I think. i must ring you and discuss how birthday business is going

  9. I think our closest item here in the US is Hostess Snowballs, which have marshmallow, chocolate cake centers, and coconut. I am always amazed at how many things are different but almost the same in the 2 countries!

  10. They are beautiful. But I would never have the patience to create these works of art.

  11. Obviously I had never heard of this Aussie treat so I had to google it; you did a great job Charlie, way better looking than the store bought version. Your marshmallow icing looks much prettier with the star tip and I bet biting into that sweet, fluffy marshmallow is utterly heavenly. Nicely done! My go to Aussie biscuit was the Anzac biscuit which was a steady performer in my Christmas baking (I know, not the right time of year!) but now I have two Aussie’s to share! Thank you.

  12. I’ve never heard of Iced VoVo before. They are adorable and look delicious. I love anything with raspberries! I’m sure your homemade version is far superior to store bought. Your kitchen has been a blur of cooking lately Charlie!

  13. I’ve never heard of this Australian delight but yours looks gorgeous and sounds delicious! I can’t wait to hear what your guests have to say about it!

  14. I’d never heard of VoVos, here in Canada, but I’m sure yours are superior in every way to the commercial version. And in spite of the mess and fiddling involved, the 3 younger members of the family will inhale them gratefully. 🙂

  15. VoVos are completely new to me, but I can see how they could be a comfort cookie for all!

  16. I have never heard of these Charlie, they do look delicious!

  17. wow charlie. what a fabulous job of it! i just wouldn’t have the patience i think. they look so pretty.

  18. I can imagine a home made one would be loads better than the bought version. I loved Lemon Crisp biscuits myself!

  19. These totally put Hostess snack cakes to shame. Woohoo for your homemade version of the “iced vovo biscuit” Charlie.. first time I ever heard of ’em, but I feel like I’ve missed out. However, it’s never too late to start stocking our “adult” lunch boxes! 🙂

  20. Charlie, here in Alabama we definitely don’t have ‘biscuits’ like yours. Now that I know that it translates into ‘cookies’ I really must try these.

  21. I will have to pin this for the future.
    Thanks for sharing

    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways

  22. Wow these look so impressive – I loved iced vovo’s – though like tim tams we didn’t have them much because my mum didn’t buy many “bought biscuits” – she was too much of a baker! But when we got them they were a treat.

  23. I didn’t really grow up with iced vovo’s but they still have a nostalgic feel to me because I remember them in the supermarkets for as long as my memory stretches back (and of course I did have them sometimes). Your home made version is very impressive!

  24. I’ve never had an iced vodo cookie before, Charlie, in my opinion, homemade cookies are always superior to the packet version and your vevo cookies sound incredible and look oh so pretty!

  25. Dang – I meant vovo – not sure why I kept thinking vevo and vodo…

  26. LOL, I must be a messy baker as I feel like I need to hose down the kitchen after every baking session! I’m certain these surpass the store-bought vovos by a long shot! They look divine with all the delicious flavors and textures 🙂

  27. Oh, my goodness, so pleased to hear I’m not the only one who can be messy in the kitchen – remember making marshmallow once and beater was going to fast and ended up with it all over the kitchen:-) But these do look worth the time and mess – thanks Charlie.

  28. Wow – well done you! I’ll bet these made you popular with the offspring.
    They look gorgeous.

  29. Talk about a “blast from the past” … these were one of my favourite biscuits while I was growing up … will definitely have to try this recipe! x

  30. Oh these look so great Charlie! I remember sneaking into my grandmothers pantry and just sniffing the sweet smell of jam and coconut from a plate full of iced vovos. Of course they were poison to me but I thought they were so pretty and wishes I could try one. I might give these a try with gluten free ingredients – it would definitely be worth hosing my kitchen out for the fulfilment of a childhood dream 🙂 xo

  31. So many fond childhood memories of these! Would definitely have been overjoyed to open my lunchbox and find one of these inside!

  32. Loving the fluffy pink marshmallow! And you made it from scratch!! These are really pretty treats 🙂

  33. Wow, I was truly surprised to realise that Tim Tams had been around for 50 years….have always thought of them as the “new kids on the block” and I guess in relation to the Iced Vo Vo, which were introduced in the early 1900s, they are. Nice to know that some things last the test of time.

    Your biscuits look so good, you clever lady.

  34. These are the biscuits of my childhood! I never would have though to attempt them myself.. you definitely have inspired me though. These vovos look exactly how I remember them.

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