When I first started Project Pastry Love back in April of 2014 I used the wonderful baking and pastry text book On Baking as my guide. I read each chapter thoroughly, then scoured my cookbooks and baking magazines for recipes relating to that chapter. After baking what I had just learned, I posted it for all of you. It was an amazing project that took me about a year and a half to complete. I learned so much this way. But there is still so much more to learn! For instance, I don’t know how to make a souffle. So, I’ve decided to take my worn-out copy of On Baking off of the bookshelf, and devour it once again. And guess what? I’m not going to make a souffle today either. I’m making biscuits because I’ve been dieting since January 2nd, and I’m desperate for something crisp on the outside, airy on the inside, very buttery and now damn it! A Touch Of Grace Southern Biscuits should do the trick.
I got this recipe from Shirley O. Corriher’s fabulous baking book Bakewise. I love all of my cookbooks and baking books equally, but if I had to choose a favorite it would be Bakewise. Oh no… Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Pie And Pastry Bible just stormed out of the room, and slammed the door. Oh well. She’ll be alright.
Okay let’s do it! There are a few things to keep in mind when making these biscuits:
- Make sure all of the wet and fat ingredients are cold (except for the melted butter, which is seductively brushed on the hot biscuits once they are out of the oven).
- If you can find it use low protein self-rising Southern flour for biscuit dough (like White Lily). This will help to prevent biscuits from becoming too dense. If you can’t find it in your supermarket, then regular self-rising flour will do.
- This biscuit recipe would be considered drop biscuits because there is no rolling the dough with a rolling pin, or cutting it out with a biscuit cutter. Drop biscuits also have a wetter dough which makes for a lighter biscuit.
- I suggest using a thermometer to determine when they are done (205º F.). Why guess, when you could be absolutely accurate?
Here we go… whisk together all of the dry ingredients ( self-rising flour, sugar, and salt). Then, using your fingers, squeeze the dry ingredients, and the cold shortening together until it resembles small, coarse crumbs.
Pour in heavy cream, and gently mix until the the mixture is coated.
Next, pour in buttermilk (a little at a time). Gently mix.
Once the dough looks like cottage cheese stop adding buttermilk (I ended up using about 3/4 cup).
Ice cream scoop out the dough, and place on a plate covered in all-purpose flour. With floured hands, roll each ball around.
Pack the dough balls tightly together in a greased 8-inch round cake pan. Bake in a 425º F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top, and when the internal temperature has reached 205º F.
As soon as it is out of the oven brush 3 tablespoons of melted butter all over the top, and then sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.
Carefully remove the biscuits from the hot cake pan, and then cut out each biscuit individually.
Serve while still hot to those you love. Enjoy!
Notes
Special equipment needed: 8-inch round cake pan, rubber spatula, food thermometer, pastry brush, 3 large plates. 1 and 1/2 inch ice cream scoop
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) Self-Rising, Low Protein Southern Flour
- 1/8 cup (25 g) Sugar
- 1/2 Salt
- 1/4 cup (45 g) Shortening, cold
- 2/3 cup Heavy Cream, cold
- 1 cup Buttermilk, cold
- 3/4 cup (94 g) All-Purpose Flour for rolling and shaping
- 3 TBS (43 g) Unsalted Butter, melted
- Sea Salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 8-inch round cake pan. Set aside. Pour the all-purpose flour (not the low protein Southern flour) onto a large plate. Set that aside.
- In a large bowl mix together the low protein southern flour, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Using your fingers, work the shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks small, and crumbly.
- Pour in the heavy cream, and stir gently until all is coated.
- Finally, add the buttermilk, a little at a time, while gently stirring. Stop when the mixture resembles cottage cheese. You might not need to use all of the buttermilk.
- Using a 1 and 1/2 inch ice cream scoop, place 4 scoops of dough onto the plate of all-purpose flour. Sprinkle the top of each scoop with flour, and then using floured hands roll each one into a ball.
- Place each scoop of dough into the prepared cake pan. Be sure that each one touches its neighbor. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top of the biscuits are golden brown, and its internal temperature has reached 205 degrees F.
- As soon as the biscuits are out of the oven brush the tops with the melted butter, and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.
- Take a sharp knife and cut around the perimeter of the biscuits. Place a large plate over them, and turn them upside down onto the plate to extract them from the pan.
- Place another plate over the now upside down biscuits, and turn over so that they are right side up.
- Using the sharp knife, carefully cut out each biscuit. Be careful not to burn yourself in the process, as everything is still quite hot.
- Enjoy, with a some butter, and honey on top, or just as they are.
