Flouring the Work Surface

Ques2008, I have learned so much from CI over the years. I don't always share their opinions on "the best recipe," but there's always information in the articles that help you to tweak recipes to your own tastes. I was surprised at how easy it was to get impressive results with this one. It's a keeper :-)

Hi Adam,

Biscuits can be challenging, can't they? But very satisfying to master. Like most other things baked, a little practice goes a long way.

1. I followed the Bakewell cream biscuit recipe but substituted the 4 tsp Bakewell cream & 2 tsp baking soda for 4 tsp glabber girl baking powder as the recipe stated for a conversion. If I read correctly I should have increased the amount of baking powder to 6 tsp not 4?

That's right, 4 tsp Bakewell cream + 2 tsp baking soda = 6 tsp (2 Tbl) baking powder, according to the guidelines on the label. But the general rule is that there is 1/4 tsp of soda per 1 tsp of baking powder, so their substitution rate may be a bit off (4+2 tsp being the equivalent of about 8 tsp. baking powder, since powder has some filler to bulk it out and keep the acid and base dry). For comparison, 8 tsp for 4 cups flour is the same amount of leavening as the Cook's Illustrated recipe earlier in this thread (1 Tbl powder + 1/2 tsp soda is the equivalent of 5 tsp baking powder for the 2 1/2 cups flour)---or 1 tsp for every half-cup.

2. I also substituted buttermilk instead of regular milk. Should I have added something to offset the acid in the buttermilk?

Not necessarily, although you probably didn't have enough leavening to start with. Assuming 8 tsp of baking powder, there should have already been enough leavening, so if you were happy with the taste, you wouldn't need to adjust anything else. If you found it too tangy, then you can reduce the baking powder a bit and add a little baking soda---up to 1/2 tsp per cup of buttermilk, to mellow it and provide the balance of the leavening.

The Bakewell Cream recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups milk, so to substitute buttermilk, you can add 3/4 tsp baking soda and reduce your Clabber Girl to 4-5 tsp.

3. While incorporating the butter is there a risk of over working the fluor and making the dough tough? Or is it to early in the process to worry about that?

I don't think so, because butter is mostly fat which coats the proteins and interferes with gluten formation---that's why it is added before the liquids.

4. When I added the buttermilk and mixed the dough I couldn't get all of the flour to incorporate into the dough ball. I was afraid to overwork the dough though. Is it normal for the dough to be very crumbly or should it all come together in a ball? Should more liquid be added?

Biscuit dough should be relatively wet, so it sounds like you needed more liquid. Keep in mind that buttermilk is thicker than sweet milk, but also that different flours absorb at different rates. The recipe states that "some flours may require a little more liquid to make a nice soft dough." That gives you an idea of the consistency you're looking for.

5. In regards to flaky biscuits once you've done your initial roll out of the dough do you dust the dough prior to folding to keep the layers from fusing together? Also after folding and then rolling the dough it seems like it would just work back together. Do the layers naturally stay apart?

The Bakewell Cream is a fluffy biscuit. For flaky, as the Cook's recipe here, instead of cutting all your fat into the flour in the usual way, you rub the butter into big flakes, being very careful after to mix your liquids in gently (I toss with a rubber spatula), so as not to destroy all those flakes. When you roll it, the flakes flatten out and allign with the dough, and the subsequent "turns" serve to laminate it with all those flakes of butter separating the dough layers. You want to avoid working in any more flour because that will toughen and make for dry biscuits. The layers will stay apart, so long as you take care to use proper technique and temperatures throughout.

I hope that helps, and good luck with your biscuits.   -dw

Adam, you inspired me to jump in and bake a batch of biscuits. Two, actually. Since you're learning, I didn't want to give you an untested, and possibly problematic recipe. Plus, I received a special gift of honey this past Christmas from a dear friend, and what better way to enjoy it than biscuits with honey and butter? Yum!

So, here is the quarter-recipe I came up with, based on what you are wanting to do with the Bakewell Cream recipe---substitute buttermilk for the regular milk called for. Because your dough is consistently too dry, I decided to try 1/2 cup buttermilk instead of 6 tablespoons. It made the measuring and calculating easier. 1/2 cup buttermilk will neutralize 1/4 tsp of the soda (half of it), leaving another 1/4 tsp of soda to react with the Bakewell Cream, so that is reduced to 1/2 tsp. Make sense? 1 part soda : 2 parts Bakewell Cream.

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp bakewell cream
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbl shortening (butter)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

The dough was very wet---about the same as I remember the CI recipe being. I gave it six kneading strokes before rolling to 1/2" thick.

I cut 4 rounds and then stacked the scraps, and rerolled for a 5th. I baked them at 475, per the recipe, but my baker instinct told me that was too hot (they set too soon and didn't rise as high as they should have). And I wasn't satified with the taste, the texture or the color, either. But one thing was illuminating---the 5th biscuit, from the rerolled scraps looked the best, inside and out. So I mixed up a second batch using bleached all-purpose (the first batch was unbleached AP, both Gold Medal flours), in addition to the 6 keading strokes, I also gave the dough 2 turns before rolling out and cutting (one envelope fold in each direction as if laminating). And lastly, I reduced the oven temperature to 425F and used the convection feature (because that's what my oven's manual recommends).

Note how much taller they are than the first batch (the tray of four). They look like little Frankenstein heads. These buscuits were better in every respect than the previous batch (although they are not as good, in my opinion, as the CI flaky biscuits).

As to your questions, I think that the brief kneading and folding will do wonders for the crumbly problem. And I think it's best to bake biscuits on metal---I prefer aluminum, myself, but experiment with what you have.

Hope this is helpful.
dw 

I threw that one in just to see who was paying attention---boy, there's nothin' wrong with your eyes!  Ya know, according to Oprah, there are no coincidences?

Ahhh, okay, now we're getting to the bottom of it. Well, the King Arthur all-purpose explains a lot, because it is more bread- than pastry flour. That's not to say you can't make good biscuits with it, but a little extra care and understanding are in order. By your description, it sounds like the dough was still too dry. The biscuits in your photo, likewise, look too dry and that will hinder the rise. Strong flours absorb more liquid, and that is part of it. So, the way you measure flour is going to make a big difference here, and I'm willing to bet that you are using too much.

Do you have a scale? If so, weigh 4 1/4 oz KA-AP flour per cup for this recipe. If you don't own a scale, the way to measure the right amound is to first fluff the flour with a fork. Then use a large spoon, like a soup- or serving spoon, to transer the fluffed flour to your measuring cup. Set the cup on a plate or in a bowl to catch the overflow, and sprinkle the flour lightly into it, taking care not to shake of jostle the cup. You don't want it to pack or settle at all. Let the flour mound up over the rim on all sides, and then sweep the excess away by running the back of a long knife or other straight edge across to level the top. That will give you the right amount of this flour for this recipe. Dip-and-sweep method would be fine for a softer flour.

Because King Arthur is stronger than other AP flours, you don't want to work it as much. I tried a mini batch this morning, and 6 kneads were enough. It started to show the first signs of gluten development during rolling, so I did not fold and re-roll as I did with the Gold Medal flours. 1/2 tsp each soda and Bakewell cream were plenty of leavening, and that brings up another issue. You wrote baking powder above. Is that what you used, or did you mean baking soda? It's very important to use soda, or the bakewell cream won't have anything to react with. If your oven is not convection, try 450F, keeping in mind that you may have to adjust that once you get the dough right. And if you haven't already, take the stone out of the oven when baking these.

You'll get these perfected and then be tired of biscuits :-)

Was my using 1 tsp each of bakewell and soda to much in your opinion?

Yes. 1/2 tsp each is plenty, as you can see from my Frankenstein biscuits, and raising each to 1 tsp leaves an excess of soda, throwing off the balance.

Also when you spoke of gluten development are you speaking of the tendency of the dough to begin to bounc back from rolling.

Precisely, yes :-) 

Adam, those look much better :-)  Leaveneners need moisture to react well, and the dough needs to be soft enough to puff easily. It looks like you're on the right track with the dough, so reduce the soda and bakewell to 1/2 tsp each.

The next step is to optimize the baking process, because that is just as critical to high-rising biscuits. If you still have it, get out the user's guide for your oven and look up what it recommends for buscuits. Use that setting. If you don't have one, try 425F with convection for the whole baking process (don't turn the oven off halfway through). But, keep in mind that all ovens perform differently.

Bake the next batch without the silpat. Either use parchment or non-stick spray. I find that silpats stunt the rise of some cookies and things like biscuits. It doesn't conduct heat to the bottom quite the same as when in more direct contact with the metal. Aluminum is ideal. (I used the bottom to my 10" springform pan because the batch size was too small for my larger sheet pans.)

You're getting there :-)