Tea Biscuit
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the dough
Mix the lard, flour, and salt in a bowl.
Add the baking powder to the last cup of flour.
Gradually add cold water to form a soft dough.
Roll out the dough thinly and cut into rounds.
Bake
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure as its proteins combine with water into gluten.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the biscuits rise and become light.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles and creates flaky layers, keeping the biscuits tender.
The step that matters
Gradually add cold water to form a soft dough. Adding the water slowly and stopping once the dough just holds together keeps it tender. Overworking develops too much gluten, which makes biscuits tough.
“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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