Beaten Biscuit
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, rub the lard and salt into the flour.
Mix in the cold water to form a stiff dough.
Knead the dough for ten minutes.
Beat the dough hard with a rolling pin, turning it over until it begins to blister and is light and puffy.
Shape and bake
Cut the dough with a small biscuit cutter and place the biscuits spaced apart on a baking pan.
Prick each biscuit with a fork.
Bake for twenty minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough as its proteins and starch set during baking.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to tenderise the dough and adds fat for a flaky texture.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour to form a stiff dough that can be kneaded and beaten.
The step that matters
Beating the dough with a rolling pin. Beating works air into the stiff dough and develops its gluten, so it blisters and rises lightly in the oven. Stopping too early leaves the biscuits dense.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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