Backyard Biscuits
Baker Dave: In Britain, these would be known as scones. And if you want to know why Americans call these biscuits rather than scones – blame the Atlantic Ocean. Soft biscuits were baked hard so that they would keep on long sea journeys, and were often referred to as ‘hard tack’. They were then softened in dishes with sauce or gravy to make them less tooth-busting. But at home, the opportunity wasn’t missed to make them light and fluffy by adding bicarbonate of soda and fat. It probably also accounts for why these American biscuits are typically less sweet than their British scone cousins. Call them what you want, these flaky pillows will leave you speechless.
Ingredients
500g plain flour
2½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 tsp salt
225g butter, fridge-cold, chopped into 1cm chunks
15g honey
225ml buttermilk, or 190ml whole milk plus 35ml lemon juice, left to curdle and thicken (if you have no buttermilk)
1 tbsp pickle juice (or cider vinegar)
1 egg yolk, lightly whisked with a drop of water
Flaky sea salt (optional)
Setup
Target technique on a BBQ is best for this
You’ll need a cast iron skillet or plancha
Method
Baker Dave
1. This recipe works best using a food processor with a blade attachment, but if you prefer to keep it real and use your hands, then that works just fine. Put all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt) into the food processor or a bowl. Whizz together or just use a whisk to distribute everything evenly.
2. Add the butter into the food processor and pulse until the chunks are the size of baked beans. If doing this by hand, rub the butter into the flour gently by gliding your thumbs over your fingers.
3. In a jug, mix together the honey, buttermilk and pickle juice.
4. Tip the dough into a bowl and add the buttermilk mixture, stirring gently with a fork. You want the mix to barely come together, just so there are no more dry bits left in the bowl.
5. Tip the flour and butter mixture onto a floured surface and roll out to 2cm thick – I just use the first bit of my thumb as an approximate guide. Shape the slab into a rough square and cut into quarters. Stack the four quarters on top of each other, wrap in greaseproof paper or cling film and refrigerate for an hour. This is the important bit to achieve the light, flaky layers.
6. Get your cooker going and aim for a temperature 180°C (350°F) or preheat a conventional oven.
7. Now roll the stacked tower out again until about 2cm thick.
8. Shape into a rough rectangle, then chop into 12 even-ish squares using a large sharp knife, flouring the knife between each cut. Preheat your skillet or plancha over the fire (or on the stovetop).
If cooking over fire, kiss the skillet or plancha with a little butter and gently cook the biscuits on each side until golden. If cooking in the oven, brush the biscuits all over with egg yolk and finish with your favourite savoury (or sweet) dusting – flaky sea salt does it for me.
9. Place in the skillet and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until you’ve got some colour on the tops and bottoms.
DJ BBQ’s Backyard Baking by Christian Stevenson, Chris Taylor and David Wright (Quadrille, £20) Photography: David Loftus