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.
Make the dough
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt.
Cut in the lard until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Gradually add cold water to form a stiff dough.
Knead the dough for ten minutes.
Beat the dough 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 stiff, elastic body.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to shorten gluten strands, giving a tender, flaky crumb.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour to bind the dough without warming the fat.
The step that matters
Beating the dough with a rolling pin. Beating until the dough blisters and becomes light and puffy works air into the stiff dough and develops its gluten, which gives the biscuits their characteristic lift and crisp, layered texture. Stopping too early leaves them 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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