This time of year, the simplest foods seem to taste the best: bright spring salads, veggie-packed pastas, elegantly dressed fish, and of course, light, flaky biscuits -- smothered in butter, coated in jam, or drizzled with honey. But, as good as we are at devouring them, mastering the art of biscuit making is trickier. With brunch season fast approaching, Here are some tips on making perfectly flaky biscuits from scratch -- and they delivered.
- Don't break up the butter too finely when you work it into the flour, Just like with pie dough, small chunks of butter help make flaky layers.
- Some swear by substituting leaf lard in place of butter to achieve the ideal biscuit texture.
- Try using crème fraîche instead of buttermilk, its higher fat content and helps enhance other fragances and flavors that are incorporated into the dough.
- The dough should be "so wet that it sticks easily to your hands and the board or counter, unless you flour them first. Don't use too much bench flour -- just enough to keep the dough from sticking."
- Check the expiration date on your baking powder, if the recipe calls for it. Leavener loses its strength over time, and you don't want to waste your breakfast on a stale box.
- When in doubt, follow Julia Child's advice: "Pat the dough out into a rectangle and give it a couple turns like you are making puff pastry. Then, I usually make a rectangle, fold it in thirds, pat it out again, fold it in thirds again, pat it out one last time, and cut my biscuits. The turns will make your biscuits flakier and rise higher."
- For the tenderest biscuits, use low-protein ("Southern") flour. If you can't find it, or don't want to buy it, you can reduce the protein content of regular all-purpose flour by adding some cake flour to it.
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