Biscuits or Scones

I used to enjoy those breakfast biscuits which were available during those good old days at the McDonalds outlets here. I can't remember when it happened...but the fast food chain has pull it off their menu for years. I was deprived of those buttery and fluffy biscuits until my very first visit to the States years later. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that those biscuits are still available at the outlets in the States. Since then, I would always make it a point to drop-by the chain whenever I visit the country. I even went to the extend to try baking these buttermilk biscuits from those pre-mix doughs that came in a can. I tried searching for these frozen doughs when I got home, but so far, I have never spotted them in any supermarts here. Somehow after many years, I thought I have totally lost the cravings for them. Little did I know that my dormant love affair with these American biscuits rekindled, right after our first visit to the Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits in California a few years back.

Of course we like the taste of Popeye's crispy, slightly spicy and yet very juicy and tender fried chickens. I think only our homegrown brand, Arnold's Fried Chicken come close enough. But it was Popeye's biscuits that I constantly craved for when we came back home. Indeed it was a 'love at first bite' affair with those biscuits. It was ironical that I was actually a little hesitant when I picked up the biscuit that was served along as sides. We checked out the first Popeye's outlet here at Changi Airport Terminal 1 not too long after our return. Sad to say, the biscuits just didn't taste right...even the chickens were not as tasty. When the Singapore Flyer was up, we didn't go for the ride, but instead headed straight to the Popeye's outlet. Once again, we were totally disappointed. Just two weeks ago, I tried the new outlet at Terminal 3. This time I had with me, a girl who has frequent the Popeye's joint ever since she was a first grader. She commented that the biscuits look "different", I think she was just being polite...I'm sure "weird" is a better adjective to describe those out-of-shape biscuits...they look more like those 'pop-overs' which I came across in many cookbooks. Both of us concluded that the chicken just doesn't taste as good.

To satiate my craving, I had on several occasions tried making my own homemade biscuits from scratch. However, I couldn't seems to be able to get it right. On my first attempt, my biscuits became dense bread buns as I was over zealously in kneading the dough. The second attempt yielded much softer 'buns', although edible, there were still no 'biscuits' in sight! I gave up hope after that, thinking that this is going to be my achilles’ heel, forever.

Thanks to this wonderful cookbook I found, I was able to make a decent batch of biscuits recently. They turned out almost perfect when I tried this same recipe the 3rd time. Although the author refers them to her Mama's Scones, they are really biscuits to me.

The biscuits were soft and fluffy...just the way I like them. They went well with anything...be it butter, cream cheese, strawberry jam and even kaya spread...especially when served warm from the oven :D

Mama's Scones/Biscuits

Ingredients:

(makes 7)

• 250g cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• one pinch of salt
• 50g cold unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
• 30g caster sugar
• 1 egg plus enough fresh milk to make up 140ml

Method:

Lightly beat the egg and add enough fresh milk to make up 140ml of liquid.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add in salt and sugar and whisk the dry ingredients together. With finger tips rub the COLD butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (It is important that the butter be cold so when it is cut into the flour mixture it becomes small, flour-coated crumbs. Due to our hot weather and my warm hands, I use a fork to work the butter into the dry ingredients. If the butter starts to melt away during this process, stop and place the mixture in the freezer for 10-15mins to prevent the butter from melting further. Continue the process when the mixture is well chilled.)

Keep the mixing bowl (with the flour-butter mixture) in the fridge for at least 30 mins.

Remove bowl from fridge. Add the egg & milk mixture and stir until just combined. The mixture will be sticky, moist and lumpy. Gather up the mixture and place it on a lightly floured surface and give it a few light kneading (not more than 10 seconds) so that it comes together to form a dough. Do Not over work the dough. (Only mix the dough until it comes together. Too much kneading will cause gluten to develop, and the resulting biscuits will turn hard and chewy. Mix only until the ingredients come together into a combined mass.)

Place dough in a plastic bag or cover it with cling wrap. Keep dough in fridge for about 30mins. (The objective here is to keep the dough cold to prevent the butter from melting so that there will be little bits of dispersed butter in the dough. During baking, the heat will cause these tiny bits of butter to melt into the dough and leaves pockets and layers in the biscuits for them to rise nicely. If the butter melts or softens before baking, the resulting biscuits will be hard and flat.)

On a lightly floured surface, dust your hands and the dough with some flour and pat out into 1 inch thickness (avoid using too much flour). Cut out the dough with a lightly floured 2.5-inch biscuit cutter (I use a drinking glass instead). In order for the biscuits to rise evenly, press the cutter directly down and lift it straight up without twisting. Dip the cutter into some flour after each cut. Gather scraps together and repeat until all the dough is used.

Place cut biscuits on baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). For soft-sided biscuits, place them close together on the baking sheet so that the sides are touching. For crisp-sided ones, place them 1 inch apart, these will not rise as high as biscuits that are baked close together. Brush the tops with some milk.

Bake at preheated oven at 200degC for about 13 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean. The texture of the interior should be light and soft. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm.

Recipe source:adapted from 爱上做面包, 德永久美子