This is an easy drop biscuit recipe originally developed by the Beard family cook over 100 years ago. The trick here is to use fresh ingredients in a cold room and a light hand. AP flour may be substituted for the cake flour, but the resulting biscuits will not be as tender. Do not use a cream substitute or any lower-fat alternatives. Converted to weight-based measurement by me, directions by me.
Makes 10 sandwich sized biscuits or 20 regular sized biscuits.
Ingredients:
284g sifted cake flour
10.5g baking powder
5g salt
14g sugar
360g heavy cream, cold
28-30g melted butter, optional, for brushing on tops
Preheat the oven to 350°
Place parchment paper on a plain half sheet pan, or use a non-stick sheet pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the cold cream and stir gently until barely mixed. This 'shaggy mass' will look very rough. Using the two-spoon method, drop in large spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. Lightly tap into shape, if need be. Brush the tops with butter, if desired. Bake for about 10 minutes, time varies by size, until the tops are barely colored and the bottoms slightly brown. They will continue to cook for a few minutes after leaving the oven.
These can also be carefully dropped into flan rings on a parchment covered sheet pan to make consistent rounds for sandwiches or eggs benedict. Or, try dropping into non-stick molds like muffin pans -keeping the height 2-3cm.
Enjoy!
