“We had a reputation at home for very special biscuits…The secret of their unique quality is this: They use heavy cream instead of butter or shortening.”
-James Beard, Beard on Bread
Whatever the calendar says, today was the first day of fall. It was 46 degrees as we drove in to work this morning, there was a frigid wind as I waited at the bus stop, and tonight we have a frost advisory. I needed something to make myself feel better about this whole fall thing, and a dinner of baked acorn squash and cream biscuits seemed like it just might be the thing.
The ingredients:
I mixed all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder) together, then slowly added the cream. I had to use the whole 8 ounce carton, as well as a splash of whole milk, to get my dough to the right consistency. It still seemed crumbly when I turned it out onto my kneading surface, but a bit of light kneading turned the mixture into a heavy dough. I rolled it to a half inch thickness and cut out the biscuits using a round cookie cutter.
I baked the biscuits at 425 degrees for 12 minutes, which was enough to bake them to golden-brown perfection.
Dinner was wonderful. As I ate my biscuits, with spoonfuls of moist, flavorful squash in between each bite, fall seemed a bit more bearable.
Although they are tasty, Cream Biscuits don’t have a fluffy texture like Baking Powder Biscuits–the cream makes them much heavier. Personally, I prefer Baking Powder Biscuits, but Cream Biscuits are certainly delicious and well worth a try.