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
Rub 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 blisters and becomes light and puffy.
Shape and bake
Cut out biscuits with a small cutter and place them spaced apart on a baking pan.
Prick each biscuit with a fork.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) 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 gluten network that gives the dough its structure and strength.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to shorten gluten and add tenderness and flakiness.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour to bind the dough while keeping the fat firm.
The step that matters
Beating the dough with a rolling pin. Hard beating develops and stretches the gluten until the dough blisters and becomes light and puffy. Insufficient beating leaves the biscuits dense and flat, while the blistering is what gives the traditional crisp, layered texture.
“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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