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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the lard, flour, and salt.
Add the baking powder with the last cup of flour.
Make the dough
Gradually add cold water to form a soft dough.
Roll out the dough thinly and cut into rounds.
Bake
Bake 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
- Flour
- Forms gluten with water to give the biscuit its structure.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to keep the biscuit tender and flaky.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, lifting the biscuit as it bakes.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together.
The step that matters
Gradually add cold water to form a soft dough. Adding water slowly and mixing only until the dough comes together prevents overworking. Too much handling develops gluten, which makes biscuits tough. Cold water keeps the lard firm, so it melts in the oven and creates flaky layers.
“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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