TWD: Sweet Cream Biscuits

I know. Biscuits again, right? But this time... there's no buttermilk involved. Not only that, there's also no lard or even butter! Bring out the smelling salts... someone's Aunt Sue Ellen from Montgomery, Alabama just fainted or rolled over in her grave or whatever. Can't call it a biscuit if it doesn't have all of those things or !gasp! none of them! That's just not right. Or not southern, at least.

Well, screw it. These biscuits were the easiest biscuits I've ever made AND they tasted great AND had a great texture. Bring on the cream biscuits!

Now, it's kinda fitting that I'd be making these biscuits. You see, Nashville's own Biscuit Lady, Carol Fay Ellison passed away a couple of weeks ago. Her biscuits were the best biscuits I'd ever had outside of a southern lady's kitchen. They were light and tasty without being too tangy and they were rich without feeling heavy. They were delicious and luckily the recipe lives on at Loveless Cafe. But, I did eat there about a month ago and even though I was on a diet, I couldn't say no to having one biscuit with some honey drizzled on it. YUM.

I'm pretty sure that these sweet cream biscuits will now become my go-to biscuit recipe. Just because they are easy, they require few ingredients and they have a very mild flavor and a fluffy texture that fits perfect with jams, honey, or meats.

The night before I made these biscuits, I cut up some strawberries with some sugar and let it sit in the fridge over night to juice up. Having biscuits with strawberries is a childhood memory from my maternal grandmother. She always served her biscuits piping hot with strawberries that had been picked and stored in the freezer with a little sugar (okay, a LOT of sugar). Delicious.

Of course... when I tasted these biscuits and realized how delicious they were, I had to try them with a little bit of honey drizzled over, as well (my favorite way to eat a biscuit).

These may not seem like traditional biscuits to you when you read the ingredient list... but they sure taste like it.

Sweet Cream Biscuits

Recipe by Dorie Greenspan

So, I always use White Lily flour. It's readily available in every store here and I find it to be the best flour. I love the soft, light texture of the flour. According to Dorie, it's so soft that you should add 2 tbsps for every 1 cup of all purpose that you use White Lily for.

I also did something different this time. I used a ton of flour when I rolled out the dough. I'd always been scared of using too much flour ("lightly dusting" it a relative phrase, I think). But, after watching an episode of Throwdown in which Carol Fay makes her famously delicious biscuits I noticed she used a ton of flour to roll her dough out... And let me tell you... it makes the process SO MUCH EASIER. (Incidentally, she lost on her episode of throwdown, which reminds me... I need to make Bobby's recipe to see how they compare!).

I also still don't have a biscuit cutter, so I just rolled into a square, cut the biscuits into squares with a sharp knife and placed them in a square baking pan that housed all the biscuits to where they were just barely touching each other.

They turned out perfect. Thanks to Melissa of Love at First Bite for choosing this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. It was a real winner, in my book!

Find the recipe here.

Cranberry Scones

Call me many things... obsessive, selfish, crazy, alcoholic, self-obsessed even. Whatev. I'll admit it.. I'm a little bit of all those things. Am I working on correcting any of that about myself? Ehhh.. not really. It's all at healthy levels, I swear.  But the one thing for me, that I hope that I am NEVER described as... is uppity or snobby. That is the one thing in people that really drives me crazy. I mean, who am I to judge other people and think I'm better than them? Exactly.

As such, I try to avoid all possibly snobby-inducing situations. What are snobby-inducing situations you ask? Well.. sipping tea whilst my pinky is thrust out. Wearing hats to weddings. Having a dinner party with 14 different forks set out at each place setting. You know.. those everyday occurances for snobs. I'm never above heating the water for my tea in the microwave or getting drunk at weddings by doing shots at the bar next door everytime a slow song comes on (with the toast always... "here's to never getting married!") or breaking out the stryofoam bowls and plastic spoons for my chili at a get together... That's how I roll, baby. Class-less all the way.

So, it's only natural that I generally stay away from the scone. For me, scones fall into the pretensive food category amongst the likes of caviar, escargot, and petit fours. They were foreign to me. Until Starbucks bursted onto the scene, I'd never heard of a scone, I don't think. But as soon as I did... I immediately imagined them being eaten at high tea with some crumpets or some shit. Soooo not up my alley. I'll take biscuits and sausage gravy, please.

Back in 2008, I took a trip to Oregon with my mom. We ended up staying one night in Newport, Oregon (only because I wanted to check out the Rogue Brewery while I was there... YUM!) at this really nice hotel right on the beach, the Elizabeth Street Inn. We were on the elevator at the hotel, just after we had checked in and some other ladies were telling us about how in the afternoon they have warm chocolate chip cookies in the lobby and then one lady remarked rather emphatically about the scones at the free breakfast in the morning. "Oh the scones!" she said. "The scones are delicious!"

Scones, huh? A delicious scone? I couldn't fathom why she was so enthusasiatic about something as plain and boring as a scone.

So, of course, the next morning... I had to try a scone. And I'll be DAMNED if she wasn't right. I had a lemon poppyseed one and it was crumbly and sweet and unlike anything I'd ever had before. I've been searching for the right recipe that would give me the same texture as that scone. Some scone recipes are basically just biscuits. But, this scone... this was more cookie like. Harder, crumblier, and sweet.

Serendiptiously last week, I received an email from C&H Sugar. The email said that they wanted me to make something from their website's recipes and blog about it and in exchange they'd send me a $20 giftcard to help me with the expenses. How cool is that?

I eagerly hopped onto their recipe website and perused their recipes, trying to decide what to make. This proved to be a difficult task. I mean... it's a sugar manufacturer's website... all the recipes are going to sound amazing (doh!). But as soon as I saw this recipe for Cranberry Scones, I knew I had to try it. They turned out delicious! Crunchy and crumbly on the outside with a tender crumb on the inside. Delicious as is, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar on top or with a smear of jam. Not pretentious at all. In fact... dare I say... homey, even?

Thanks C&H!

Cranberry Scones

recipe by C&H Sugar

This recipe is easy. Usually biscuit recipes intimidate me, but the ingredients came together easily and turned out wonderfully!

Remember, these aren't supposed to be super sweet. They have just the right amount of sweetness that lingers on the tongue and makes you want to go back for one more little bit. Which turns into another bite, etc.

I think these would be just as good with raisins and maybe a little cinnamon thrown in. I'm including the butter-vanilla glaze recipe which sounds delicious, but I opted out of.

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup C&H Pure Cane Granulated Sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter, sweet chilled

1 egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup cranberries, dried

1 tsp orange rind, finely grated (optional)

Butter vanilla glaze (optional, recipe below)

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large mixing bowl sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender or the paddle on an electric mixer, cut in butter until mixture is the size of course crumbs. Add dried cranberries (and orange rind, if using) and toss to coat. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a small bowl blend egg and buttermilk; add all at once to flour mixture. Mix until moistened. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead 10-12 times. Place dough onto a lined cookie sheet. Flatten dough into an 8" circle. Frequently dipping knife into flour, cut dough into 8 wedges. Separate wedges by 1". Bake 20-25 minutes. Place baked scones on a cooling rack. Let cool 5 minutes. Brush scones with glaze if desired.

Butter-Vanilla Glaze

1 1/2 cup C&H Pure Cane Powdered Sugar, sifted

2 tbsp butter, melted

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all glaze ingredients in small bowl.

Makes 8 scones.

Biscuits

Some things we're born with and we can easily identify which side of the family it came from. For instance my naturally curly hair? My mom's side. My height (err... should I say, lack thereof)? My dad's side. Physical attributes are certainly the easiest to lock down as being genetic.

Personality attributes? Not so easy. Who knows... they could be inherent or they could be learned. Can my silly sense of humor be traced to my mother or my paternal grandma's genes? Or is it from living with my silly mother and being around my silly grandmother? I think most people would agree that personality traits are more learned, than they are passed down genetically. But, some of these things... things like... green thumbs, good luck, and general disposition can be as much genetic as the color of your eyes.

Science may disagree with me... but when have I ever listened to what other people tell me (genetically passed down from many of my "dance to our own beat" relatives no doubt)? Yeah, that's right. NEVER.

Like most girls raised in the south, I come from a long line of biscuit makers. And not just any biscuit makers... excellent biscuit makers. Sadly, I can really only attest for one of my grandmother's biscuits as I wasn't ever at my paternal grandmother's for breakfast, but I'm assured that both grandmas biscuits were excellent. Different and uncomparable, but excellent.

Now, that brings up a good point. There are many types of biscuits out there. But the two general camps are... light, fluffy, and airy or heavy, dense, and flat. I'm an equal opportunity biscuit lover, but if I had to pick one type over the other (forced to choose at gunpoint, mind you), I'd pick the heavier, densier biscuit. Just personal preference.

I've been on a bit of a quest to find the perfect biscuit recipe for me. Something that defines me as a biscuit maker. Not exactly like either grandma's, not exactly like my mom's or my aunt's, but my own.

I haven't quite found it yet, but to be fair... I haven't quite mastered the technique yet either. But, I'm getting there... and I'll keep trying... eventually I'll get it. It's in my blood.
Crusty Buttermilk Biscuits
The Gift of Southern Cooking Edna Lewis & Scott Peacock

I originally heard of Edna Lewis by way of Rebecca's incredibly awesome and hiliarous blog Ezra Pound Cake, but I ended up stealing the recipe from A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen.

I didn't use lard this time, I used a combination of butter and shortening. BUT, I will try this recipe again with lard. Lard is the key to good biscuits, and hell... you only live once and as long as you aren't eating it everyday... is a little lard gonna kill ya? Nope, but it will make feel like you've died and gone to heaven when you bit into a biscuit made with lard.

5 cups sifted White Lily Unbleached Flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder (See below)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold lard
1 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F with rack in middle

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into large bowl.

Add lard, coating it with flour, then rub between your fingertips until coarsely blended with some 1/2 inch lumps.

Make a well in flour mixture, then add buttermilk, stirring with a fork just until dough forms(it will be soft & sticky). Turn dough onto floured board and need 8-10 times.

Roll dough out with a floured rolling pin into a 12 inch round (1/2 inch thick).

Using a fork dipped in flour prick all the way through every 1/2 inch.

Cut out as many rounds possible with a 2 1/2 inch cutter dipped in flour.

Bake, almost touching on an un-greased heavy baking sheet, rotating sheet after 6 minutes if browning unevenly for 12-15 minutes.

Brush tops with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven. Serve warm.


Cooks Note: Flour mixture with lard can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
Recipe yields 10-15 biscuits. Be careful not to add to much flour as the dough should be sticky.

Homemade Baking Powder Recipe; Edna Lewis

1/4 cup cream of tartar
2 tablespoons baking soda

Sift ingredients 3 times together, store in an airtight jar. Use in the same quantity as required baking powder. Keeps 6 weeks.

6th time the charm... Biscuits.

The quest for the biscuit mastery continues...

Well, this is probably the 5th time I've made biscuits and I finally got the height right. when I rolled them out this time, I kept the dough thick... almost an inch. Previously I had been rolling out to about a 1/2 inch and that just made too many and too thin of biscuits.

This time they were the right height and thickness, but I think next time I'll use half buttermilk and half regular milk, I feel like all buttermilk makes them a little heavier than I'd like. I also used butter flavored shortening this time, which I won't do again. Tasty, but again, too rich. Next time, I'm hoping for perfection.

Biscuits, Redux.

This is the third time I've tried the biscuits... and the first time remains the best. However, I did prepare these for my parents and brother this weekend and they offered great feedback.

Most importantly, my mom told me that I was rolling them out too thin... and when I placed two biscuits on top of each other, that is about the size that I'd like them to be. It was then I noticed that you're only supposed to get 6-8 from the recipe and this weekend, I got about 14. So, that's obviously a major problem, that also means I've been overcooking them... making them too dry.

I can't wait to try again this weekend!

Biscuits... or as some friends of mine like to call them... "Bisthcuits"

Biscuits much like politics and religion, are a personal thing. Everyone has a mother, grandmother, aunt, etc that made the best biscuits. And after looking at tons of recipes, there really shouldnt be much difference in biscuits, because the recipes are all so similiar. Which means, that technique is imperative. Which also means, that they are likely not going to be perfect when you attempt them the first time.

When I was growing up, I hated breakfast. Every Saturday and Sunday morning my mom would make a big breakfast of homemade biscuits and gravy, sausage, eggs, bacon, etc... and I always fixed myself a bowl of cereal. Of course though, as I've gotten older... I've learned to love biscuits and gravy. Although, I still don't like my mom's that much. Sorry, mom!

I found this recipe on foodtv.com. It had awesome reviews and claimed to be very easy. It is a recipe by Tyler Florence (who, created my favorite cheesecake recipe), so I figured, it's worth a shot.

I followed the recipe exactly... except when it came to folding with my hands, I needed a LOT more buttermilk to get the mixture to the sticky texture. I probably added another 1/4 to 1/3 cup of buttermilk (I didnt have any regular milk, or I would have used it). I also didn't roll out the dough as described in the recipe. I wasn't making them in my kitchen, so I was hesitant to make a huge mess (and I was in a hurry). So, the texture wasn't exactly what I like in a biscuit. But the flavor turned out right on. I'm anxious to try them again and roll them out properly.